Alter Ego
by QuasiOuster
Summary: COMPLETE! A strange and (hopefully) funny tale of identity swapping taken to its weirdist conclusion. Basically a Lumi story about a Phami fantasy gone awry.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I don't own any of these folks...they belong to Ken Corday and the people over at Days of our Lives. I've read several things that have convinced me that Kyle Brandt has a slight crush on Ali Sweeney (which is totally cute). I think in one of his interviews he talks about wanting the writers to give him some Phami action. I don't think I could stomach it on the show since I'm all about Lucas and Sami but this is how it could play out in my fantasy world. There's definitely more Lumi stuff going on than Phelle (I'm just not that into Belle) but I thought this was a funny idea for a story anyway. Not exactly Phelle, not exactly Lumi, not exactly Phami (and definately not Lelle--or is it Becas)...but sorta. Read and find out about this craziness. I'll try to make it funnier as the chapters progress since it's bound to get out of control. **

**Also, I'm no professional writer by any means. This is one of my first fics so words of guidance are most welcome. I'm rating this R for lots of sexual innuendo but there's no actual sex...at least not yet. But I'll try my hardest to keep it decent. **

**CHAPTER ONE **

AT SAMI'S APARTMENT 

Lucas had just crawled back onto the couch after taking a little fieldtrip to his apartment for some much needed supplies.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," he had told Sami when informing her of his purpose in leaving the comfortable warm space of her couch and her body. Sami just gave him that sexy look of hers and laughed at the implication of his words. "I just meant that I wanted to get some extra clothes and my toothbrush...trust me, you'll appreciate it in the morning."

As Lucas adjusted the covers around himself, he watched appreciatively as Sami stretched herself out like a cat. "After that wonderful proposal you gave me tonight, you can turn into Godzilla by morning and I'd still want to jump you." Lucas arched an eyebrow at her and smirked. "Well, don't get used to it General. I expect you to be clean and sanitary from tomorrow on. You just get a free 24 hour pass tonight."

"You're too kind, Sami. That's exactly why I want to spend the rest of my life with you," and to prove it he gave her a quick but sweet kiss on her lips. But in his usual smart-alec manner, he had to throw in an extra wise crack. "That and the fact that you're incredibly giving in bed. Now that's something I'll appreciate in the morning." He unsuccessfully tried to get out of the way as she went to smack him on the arm for his flippant remark.

"Watch it now!" Instead of continuing her assault though she decided that it would be much more fun to snuggle. She could find the appropriate punishment for his smart little mouth later.

"We could move to your bed you know," Lucas said as they tried to find a comfortable position.

"I know but I'm comfortable right where we are. Besides, we can watch the Honeymooners together before going to sleep. She absently reached for his hand across his body and seemed lost in thought for a moment. "Lucas, you really came through for me tonight." She turned over to look into his warm, brown eyes. "I really didn't know what to expect and I know I put a lot of pressure on you but you delivered way beyond my wildest fantasies." She suddenly turned serious as she rubbed her fingers across his chest. "I just want you to understand that after everything that's happened to me in my relationships, I've just come to think that no one could really want to commit to me without my...persuading them to do it. If you were serious about it, I didn't want it to be something done in the heat of the moment or something taken lightly. It may seem selfish or unfair but I needed to know that it was real and that you wouldn't turn around and tell me that it was all a joke or a mistake and I'd be the one sad and alone after it was all over."

Lucas could tell that this was difficult for her and tried to encourage her by soothingly rubbing her back and running his hands over her hair. Not that he needed an excuse since he loved cuddling with her. He secretly wondered why Sami's playful conversation had taken such a serious turn.

"But Lucas, when you said all of those things in front of everyone and you sang to me, I knew you meant it...I could feel it. When I looked in your eyes, I knew that it was just about you and me and Will and what we feel for each other...how we're going to be a family now. And Lucas..." She paused like she was unsure about telling him her next thought.

"What is it sweetie? You can tell me."

"I can't ever remember feeling so sure about something in my entire life. Even when I was scheming against Carrie or your mother and I thought my intentions were so right and justified. All that is nothing compared to the real thing, of really knowing that something is right in your heart. I was only expecting a little wooing and dancing, maybe some shameless romanticizing but as usual, you knew exactly what I needed and wanted." She kissed him slowly and soundly on the lips and looked deep into his eyes. "I know what people think of me and I do know that you're trying to be a better person just like I am. But when you professed your love in front of everyone we knew, well, I knew that I needed to hold onto you and never let go." With that, she tucked her head underneath his and held him in an embrace that implied that she meant to do just that

"Sami, thank you for telling me that. I love you and I won't ever disappoint you or give you reason to doubt that." They continued to hold each other both lost in their own thoughts and the feelings of tranquility that neither thought they would ever have. Soon, however, Lucas let out a huge yawn and in following the subconscious tradition, Sami followed with a yawn just as big. "Why don't we lie here and cuddle and maybe get some sleep. If I'm going to turn into a beast in the morning and you're going to ravish me in all my sexiness, we better get some rest and build up some energy."

"Mmmm, you're probably right. Here's to a fast approaching morning, baby."

Before they knew it they were both lightly snoring and very deeply asleep. So far gone were they that the didn't notice the shimmering cloud that appeared over the top of their head and Lucas didn't feel a thing when the mysterious cloud settled over his sleeping form.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

**AT BELLE AND PHILIP'S LOFT**

Meanwhile, Belle and Philip are having a very serious discussion about love and sex. Belle's mind was astir with so many feelings and she was having a hard time sorting them out. She was trying to face the fact that Shawn had left her and was never coming back—at least he was never coming back to her or their relationship. She had been in denial for so long but it was just time for her to face reality. No one said that it would be this difficult though.

To make matters more confusing, even though her sister Sami and her best friend Mimi had been telling her for weeks that Philip was in love with her, she had refused to believe that he was anything more than a good friend. A good friend that was always around comforting her and holding her and taking her to dinner, dancing with her... Wait, these crazy ideas must have come from the same land of denial as her belief in Shawn because not only had she really seen it for herself tonight but he had actually just confirmed it by telling her that she was his mystery woman and that he was in love with her.

"Belle, I think you should take some time to sort out your feelings and then maybe we can work on things between us," Philip said after dropping his bomb. He hadn't meant for it to come out that way but sometimes you just can't control these things. He just couldn't hold it in any longer especially after getting proof that Shawn had given up on their relationship. Not to mention that fact that he was your average, young, red-blooded male and living this close to her was driving him nuts.

Belle decided to switch gears and try a new tactic for dealing with this situation. 'I'm a twenty-something-year-old woman and it's time that I start acting like it' she thought to herself in order to build up her courage.

With that, Belle looked up at Philip who was peering at her with longing in his eyes and his heart on his sleeve. She just couldn't resist him any longer and she knew that this was what it meant to let Shawn go for good. She leaned up into his body, wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a very grown up, sexy kiss on him.

Philip, for his part, was initially completely shocked by Belle's behavior but since she would probably come to her senses any minute and declare that it was a mistake, he decided to go with it. She felt better than he ever imagined and having her so real and soft in his arms felt like all he needed in the world.

Belle couldn't explain the connection she felt with Philip at that moment. For a split second she thought of pulling back and declaring her actions a mistake but when he encircled her body with his strong arms and began caressing her so gently she just couldn't resist him. She placed a soft kiss on his lips and pulled away. She could see the effect she had on him and really felt the power of desire as it overtook her as well.

"Philip, I want you to make love to me. I know this is sudden but I don't want to think anymore about Shawn or about being lonely or friendship. I just want to feel...and I want to feel with you."

Philip was speechless. Never in a million years would he have predicted that the evening would turn out like this. Belle so innocent yet willing in his arms begging him to make love to her. He knew she could see the conflict in his eyes but above all else, there was the desire and years of pent up yearning that neither of them could deny. He could do nothing at that moment but take her in his arms and show her how much he wanted to be the one to make her feel.

They were both so wrapped up in their mutual attraction that neither noticed the shimmering mass hanging above their heads. When the couple collapsed on the sofa to begin making out in earnest and when the cloud descended upon Philip, neither could feel anything but the force of their desire for each other.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Lucas had known that Sami wouldn't be able to wait until morning.

Although they had only been together a few times before, it was enough to know that she was an insatiable woman. Even the first time, she hadn't been able to keep her hands off of him when she was caught up in the moment. Not that he had minded in the least.

They must have kicked the blanket off during the night because he could feel the cool night air on his bare skin. Of course, that barely registered compared to Sami's wonderfully luscious mouth on his. He ran his hand down her back and felt the silkiness of whatever sexy lingerie she had chosen to drive him wild. He asked her why she even bothered with clothes at all and she just told him that nightwear was very sexy and that she should respect at least a minimal level of decorum in her own home. Besides, Will was at summer camp not off to college so it wouldn't do to get too comfortable parading around naked in her apartment. She did have a point but still, what a shame.

Come to think of it, even though she had obviously attacked him in the middle of the night, she was being a little timid with him at the moment. He wondered briefly what her angle was and how he could overcome it to use it for their optimal pleasure. Usually, she was a wildcat and couldn't keep her hands off of him—scratching and kneading occasionally nipping and sucking. But it seemed that she was content to gently caress his neck and head while she lightly kissed him. Speaking of his head, he was feeling quite a draft even through the thickness of his hair. They must have left the window open when they were looking at Sami's engagement ring. 'The neighbors probably got an earful,' he thought with amusement. He had gotten a haircut the other day but his head didn't usually feel this cold. Of course with Sami on the job, no part of his body would be cold for long.

'Wow' Belle thought. She knew that when she finally made love to someone she cared about that it would be good but this was bordering on ridiculous. She didn't think that Philip was all that experienced but he definitely knew what he was doing. It was like he was peeping into her brain and doing everything that could possibly push her buttons. Just the way he kissed her, teasing her a little and then gently biting her lower lip while at the same time tracing patterns through her thin negligee was maddening. He was making her feel things she had only read about in books and on the internet but never thought she would feel for real. She thought she might have been hasty suggesting that they make love and she was certainly a little embarrassed and shy about being so inexperienced but if things were this good now, she couldn't wait to get to the main event. She knew that people thought of her as kind of a prude and she definitely didn't have the sexy playfulness that Sami, for example, seemed to exude. But the things Philip was doing to her made her feel bold and it made her want to be sexy. She wanted to make him feel the same burn that he was giving her.

While Sami's pre-show was all fine and good, they needed to kick things up to the next level if they were really going to play. Although it was dark, Lucas could make out Sami's blonde hair which he swore she had put back before they went to sleep. She was leaning into his body while continuing her gentle kisses on his mouth but that was about to change. Lucas moved his hands down to caress her hips and before she knew what was coming, he flipped her backwards so that her back was flat on the couch and he was now leaning over her. He chuckled at the yelp she let out by his actions but she continued to run her hands over his head and was now slowly running her fingers down his chest. Lucas trailed his hands back up Sami's body caressing her hips and her stomach as he moved farther up. His eyes followed his hands as he stared appreciatively at her body. Although his mind was completely clouded with desire, he sensed immediately that something wasn't right. As he slowly brought his hands and his gaze up to meet the hungry look he knew was in Sami's eyes, nothing could have prepared him for the shock that was to greet him. Instead of looking into the lust filled eyes of his beautiful fiancée he was instead staring down at her very innocent yet aroused virgin sister Belle.

No Olympian on the planet could have leaped higher, farther or faster than Lucas did at that moment. He looked down at Belle and went to run his hands through his hair—at least he tried to but there wasn't much up there. Looking as if there were bugs crawling all over him, Lucas inspected his hands and then his legs and in an effort to understand the situation. He ran his hands over his body trying to rationalize what he knew was impossible.

At this point, Belle was sitting up looking very confused and a little scared as someone who she thought was Philip, but who was actually someone else entirely, completely freaked out on her.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Sami had known Lucas wouldn't be able to wait until morning.

She was sure they had just drifted off to sleep and he was already attacking her mouth and neck like she was his personal lollipop. Well, she was his personal lollipop truth be told but she wasn't going to let him know that.

Sami moaned into his mouth first in protest at being rudely awakened. As he continued kissing and touching her, her sounds of protest turned to the wanton sounds of desire and her trip back to consciousness didn't seem as rude as before. Even though he would hate her calling him predictable, she knew Lucas so well by now that she patiently waited for him to place her onto her back. He was certainly taking his time but she did notice that even for a middle-of-the-night tryst, Lucas was being awfully tame and kind of clumsy. She was definately a bit groggy from being woken up but maybe he was feeling a little sleepy himself when his hormones decided to take over. 'I wonder what his angle is?' she thought. Whatever it was, she was sure that she would get the better of him and come out on top—maybe even literally.

Philip was on cloud nine right now. The woman of his dreams was in his arms and not only was she kissing him with abandon but only moments before she had begged him to make love to her. Of course, his mind was a complete blur so he didn't even remember falling to the couch and he couldn't actually recall pulling Belle into his arms and covering their bodies with a blanket. It looked and felt as if they were just cuddling but with their mouths fused together as they were, they could be doing nothing else but ravishing each other.

In the heat of the moment he must have ripped her robe off of her. Damn, he didn't mean to get out of control. Right now what she needed was someone gentle. He knew it would be her first time and he wanted to be patient and make it the best experience he could for her. He wasn't the most experienced guy either but he would do his best to make this night special for Belle.

While he had been comforting Belle over the last few months, which involved a lot of holding and cuddling, he never really took the opportunity to feel her body against his. He was too afraid that he would get out of hand and he didn't want to scare her off. But having Belle in his arms right now, he couldn't help but become completely overwhelmed by how luscious her body was. He wouldn't have guessed it by just looking at her or even hugging her but she felt like one of those beautiful, curvy women that were all too often taken for granted in this society. Not that bag of sticks and bones you see on television and in magazines but the kind of woman that really knows how to fill out a dress... or jeans...or a T-shirt...or whatever. Although he thought that Belle was gorgeous, he hadn't really thought of her as this type of woman since she was so small. It was surprising actually since her sister Sami was exactly that type of woman. Not that he had checked her out...much. Ok, truth be told, he thought Sami was hot even if she was trouble personified. Besides, between his mother's extreme hatred of her and the fact that she was newly engaged to his brother Lucas, he had written her off as pretty much off limits. 'But if only I were a few years older,' he thought.

Wait a minute! He was making out with the woman of his dreams and he was currently thinking about how hot her sister was! That's just not right. 'I'll fix that,' Philip said to himself and continued to gently kiss and caress the love of his life as she moaned sexily against him. His hands moved up Belle's hot body and he could feel the heat they were generating between each other. He knew that Belle was inexperienced but she seemed to be really getting into things. She didn't appear to be shy at all about touching him. She was presently running her fingers through his hair while simultaneously skimming his chest with her short nails. He didn't know if she was aware of how much that turned him on—he only hoped that she would keep trusting him enough to enjoy herself.

He went to put his hands in her hair and thought briefly that he didn't remember it being as long as it felt even pulled back. He quickly dismissed the thought as something a guy doesn't normally assess when they're about to make love to a beautiful woman. He moved his hands up to Belle's face and even though he was throbbing with desire for her, he knew that he had to look into her eyes and make sure this was really what she wanted.

Although it seemed painful to pull away from her, Philip let go of Belle's lips and brought his gaze up to meet hers. What he first registered was the intense look of heat and lust gazing back at him as he became all too aware of his body and what this woman was doing to him. Then as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water, Philip realized that he was staring into the very aroused eyes of Sami Brady—Belle's sister and Lucas' new fiancée. In other words, his soon to be sister-in-law. He looked down at himself and through his lust filled mind suddenly realized that something was terribly, terribly wrong. He thought that there was no way that what he thought was happening could, in fact, be taking place. As he felt Sami undulating her perfect body against him, he briefly reflected on his previous salacious thoughts of her and knew that he had to get out of this impossibly crazy situation fast.

Sami looked at who she thought was Lucas, but who was actually someone else entirely, rather quizzically when he slowly pulled away from her. 'Leave it to Lucas to be such a tease after waking ME up to have a midnight roll in the hay,' she thought. She would just have to teach him a lesson about that. Lucas always said that she was a wildcat in bed. Well, she would show him just how wild she could be.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Now that you know what's going on (kinda) to keep confusion at a minimum, everyone is keeping the same name even if they're not technically themselves. I'll try to edit things so that it's clear what's going on. Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying it.**

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"What the Hell is going on?" yelled Lucas who was now somehow inhabiting the body of his younger brother Philip. He had jumped clear off the couch and to the other side of the room and kept looking around wildly to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

Belle of course was completely confused. She couldn't understand why he had stopped when they were both so turned on by each other. "Philip, what's wrong. We were doing great...weren't we?" As the reality of the situation became apparent, she was starting to regret being so bold with him. Maybe she was doing everything wrong. He was obviously very experienced. 'No, that can't be it. I watch a lot of daytime television. I know I'm doing it right. Besides, I may not be Nicole Walker but I can tell when a guy is turned on...well, I'm pretty sure I know. He's probably just trying to protect me still and make sure I don't rush into having sex.'

But unfortunately for Lucas, Belle had started this and she wasn't going to give up without a fight. She may be a virgin but now that she had set her sights on a night of hot sex with Philip, she wasn't going to let it go very easily. She got up off the couch and with a sexy sway of her hips, headed straight for the object of her desires.

"What," Lucas said still confused and a bit disoriented. He could see Belle quickly advancing towards him and he had to think of something quick. 'This is crazy!' he thought. 'It cannot be happening. I have not magically transformed into my little brother and Sami's innocent little sister is not about to jump my bones any second now.' He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to clear his head but when he opened them again, Belle was still advancing towards her with a look of determination on her face. 'No wonder Philip's got it bad for her' he thought. He had to admit that Belle was quite a beauty and apparently very sexy when she wanted to be.

Lucas knew that Philip was completely in love with Belle and although he didn't like his mother yet again meddling into her sons' lives, he did agree that Philip should try to pursue Belle. It didn't look like Shawn was ready to forgive Belle for lying to him no matter how Sami tried to rationalize it to him. Of course, Sami seemed irrationally sensitive about the subject so he wouldn't make the mistake of bringing it up again with her anytime soon.

Lucas also knew that Belle was a nice girl and more importantly a virgin. He certainly thought she was a pretty girl but thinking about her and sex in the same sentence kind of made him feel like a pedophile. There were so many things wrong with this situation that he didn't even know where to begin. But right now, Belle had set her very determined sights on him...that is, him meaning Philip.

"Philip, baby, you don't have to worry about me? I know you're trying to protect me and you might think that I'm not ready for this but you're wrong. I've been ready for longer that I wanted to admit. Shawn's not coming back to me, I know that now. But you have been the one to be there for me through the most difficult time of my life. You've been the one to love me. And now I realize that I love you too and I want to show you how much. You told me earlier that you loved me but I should take some time and think about things. But Philip I already told you that I don't want to think about it. I just want to be with you. Please don't push me away, not now."

She had finally reached Lucas who had been steadily backing up. He was now trapped against the counter with nowhere to go as Belle cornered him. He watched with horror and panic as she reached up to cradle his face in her hand and pull him down for another kiss. He needed to find a way out fast.

He moved his hand from her face and tried to slide past her. "Uh, so I said earlier that you should wait and think things through, right..." He thought to himself, 'Yeah go with that Roberts. That's the ticket.' He didn't want to hurt her feelings but he didn't want to ruin things for Philip either.

He shuffled past her nervously and began to ramble about anything that could possibly save him from this situation. "Ummm, I think that's a much better idea. Belle, I really care about you...I-I-I mean, that is, I really love you and umm, I really want to be with you...yeah, I mean, I want to uhh, make love to you so much..."

Oh Lord, this was just getting too gross for him but he had to take one for his little brother.

"But this is going really fast and I don't want you to regret anything in the morning...and you know, we're friends first and foremost since we were little and I don't want to lose our really great friendship until we're ready to become something more. Remember those times, me and you all innocent and friendly in the sandbox, being friends in high school and doing friend things ..."

Belle just laughed at his clumsiness as he tried to give her an out. "Philip, I don't need you to rescue me tonight." She stood in front of him and slowly peeled off her robe to show him her sexy nightwear. Lucas couldn't help but give her a once-over while trying to keep his thoughts clean. 'I guess I shouldn't be surprised since she does design lingerie. Sexy nightclothes must run in the family.' That thought brought him back to the present...the one where he was in Philip's body and his fiancée's younger sister was about to pounce on him.

"Philip, I know you want me. I know you've wanted me for a long time. You can have me all to yourself tonight."

Lucas knew he needed some sort of rescue or divine intervention right now. 'What is going on? Somebody must have drugged me or drugged her or something.' He knew that he couldn't explain to Belle that he was really Lucas and not Philip—she would think he was just as crazy as it sounded. She'd probably assume he was making up lame excuses to get out of sleeping with her. Although she would technically be right, that wouldn't be so good for Philip and he wanted to avoid that if possible. 'Speaking of Philip, if I'm here, where the Hell is he anyway?'

With that thought brought images of Philip—or more accurately, himself—lying on a couch with a very sexy and easily aroused Sami. 'Wait. If I interrupted their little make-out session here then it's possible that he's trying to get to third base with my Sami right now.' Philip was a good guy, but Lucas didn't didn't know if a horny, twenty-something year old male would be able to resist the talented charms of his luscious soon-to-be wife. Not to mention that Sami would be thinking the man she was making love to was her future husband and not his little brother.

At that point, Lucas knew that he had to get out of this mess with Belle so he could go over to Sami's and make sure Philip was behaving himself. 'After all, marine-boy, I'm the General around those parts and you better not forget it.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Thanks again for reading and for the words of encouragement. I wanted to write more tonight but unfortunately this chapter took forever to write and edit. I think my eyeballs would pop out before I could finish Chapter 7. I have it all in my head though just waiting to get out there. I wanted to take a lot of care with the Phami stuff (since it's the funniest to me) so I hope this is up to snuff.**

**CHAPTER SIX**

Philip couldn't do anything but stare at Sami in confusion, arousal and a little fear as she continued to do wonderfully terrible things to him. She seemed to be focusing on particularly sensitive parts of his body...very hard parts...with her hands and her legs...and that tongue...all over his very hot, aroused body. Well, actually, Lucas' hot aroused body.

'Focus PK! As crazy as it sounds, this is Lucas' body and you can't go there. This is not your toy. You have to give it back and play nice.' Philip was trying very hard to make sense out of his situation but was having little sucess.

'What am I talking about—I have gone completely insane? This cannot be happening! There is no feasible way that I am residing in my older brother's body just as I was about to make slow, passionate love to my Belle—the girl who has consumed my every dream and fantasy for the last umpteen years. Demon possession I'll buy, random people returning from the dead, cloned or otherwise brainwashed--okay. But body switching? That kind of stuff just doesn't happen.'

But then again, here's Sami laying on top of him turning on parts of him he didn't know existed. She's touching him in places he's only dreamt about which is almost making it hard for him explore her delicious body. It was her distraction that was causing him to squeeze her pert bottom and run his hands over her back and through her hair. Not to mention that she's one Hell of a kisser. Wait, kissing....hmmm. Sami—good. Kissing—good. Kissing Sami—good. NO BAD, VERY BAD!

'You've got to resist PK! It's the celibacy talking.' Or more appropriately referred to as the Bellibacy oath he had taken for reasons that seemed far from him now. Nevertheless, a spark of reason prevails and Philip pulls away from Sami in an attempt to get a hold of himself. He had to get away from her before he did something that could get him seriously hurt by his brother's hand. He was bigger than Lucas but he had a feeling that if Lucas even suspected that Philip had taken advantage of Sami, he didn't stand a chance. So that meant one thing. He had to get away from Sami fast.

Judging by the surprised look on Sami's face, she wasn't expecting him to pull away from her. And judging from the fire in her eyes that followed, Philip was about to pay dearly for it.

Sami was starting to get really annoyed at Lucas. First he wakes her up from a good, comfortable sleep in order to get his kicks and now he's just laying there expecting her to do all the work! Normally, even when she's holding the reigns in bed, Lucas always felt compelled to put up at least a little fight. At first she thought he was suffering from some kind of sexual insecurity but she had grown to like the little power struggle they had developed. 'Who am I kidding—our whole relationship has been a series of power struggles,' she thought with wry amusement.

But now was not the time for such thoughts. Sami was giving him her best stuff and she could tell that he was clearly enjoying himself. But he just wasn't pulling his weight right now and he had to pay. When she felt him pull away from her, it did nothing but add to her burgeoning fury.

Philip took Sami's momentary shock at his withdrawal as an opportunity to slide out from under her. Unfortunately that landed him down on the floor but that was just fine with him. Any movement away from her immediate proximity was a good thing at this point.

"Hey Sami, uh, I'm really tired all of a sudden." Philip threw in a big fake yawn for effect. "Maybe I should just go back over to my place and get some sleep. I'm sure you'd be more comfortable in your own bed anyway. And besides, you know what a bear I am in the morning especially without my toothbrush and some extra clothes." He not too inconspicuously attempted to crawl backwards towards the door hoping for Sami to miraculously allow him to escape.

"Freeze General! You stop right there!" Philip stopped and didn't dare even blink considering the death glare she had trained on him at the moment. Sami would make a great drill sergeant. He would bet anything she looked great in uniform. 'Ok, again PK—so not going there.'

"Lucas, what's your problem! We've already been over that—toothbrush, check; clothes, check; couch, check. Except nobody asked you to wake me up from my well-deserved slumber so you could try your little sex games on me. You are acting very weird and I don't appreciate it."

'Sex games,' Philip thought. Kinky. He inadvertently grinned at the thought of Lucas and Sami playing various sex games in their apartment. 'Good thing Will's at camp. Otherwise he'd either be permanently traumatized or living with Shawn Brady over at the pub.'

"You wipe that smirk off your face. Now I want you to listen and listen hard," Sami growled at him.

'No problem' Philip thought.

All of a sudden Sami's mouth twisted into an evil looking grin as she looked him up and down. Her angry tirade seemed to turn sinister as she threw out her next lecture through clenched teeth. "I did not agree to marry someone who is going to wake me up in the middle of the night, get me all hot and bothered and then lay there like a lump of useless flesh. If I had wanted a lazy, useless boy-toy in my bed—or uh, couch, I would have hooked up with..." At that, she stopped, apparently trying to find the appropriate Salemite to insert into her equation.

"...I would have hooked up with Rex—no, gross, that's my brother now. I mean Brady—no, he's kind of my brother too." She continued mumbling to herself as she rattled off the list of men she knew in Salem. "Well, as far as family, that's no Shawn Douglas or John Black. No Uncle Bo either—ewww." Philip noticed her shuddering at the thought.

Ever the helpful guy in his attempts to buy himself some time, Philip decided to chime in. "Hey, what about that Tek guy. He screams boy-toy."

"No way." Sami said with a dismissive gesture. "He's totally hot and I hear he's a pretty smart guy. He's probably great in the sack." Philip figured that he should stand up for his brother but he had his own problems at the moment. "I know! If I had wanted a lazy, useless boy-toy I would have hooked up with your brother Philip."

Philip was taken aback with shock and temporarily forgot himself--which was quite understandable given the circumstances. "Hey, Philip is a stud! I bet he's got girls lined up around the block to get a piece of him."

"Yeah right! Like he could get over Belle long enough to notice any 'dog' barking up his tree."

At this point, Philip felt he had to defend both his honor and Lucas'. 'Now what would Lucas say to that...'

Channeling his inner Lucas, Philip shot back. "Well, if you're talking about lazy and useless human beings that you're willing to marry you've conveniently forgotten the two biggest boy-toys of them all—Austin and Brandon. But wait, you did, hook up with them—a little bit more than hooking up actually. And I don't hear you complaining about it right now."

Any doubt that Lucas was acting out of the ordinary was erased as he hurled those scathing words at her. He was really going to get it now and she knew exactly how to punish him.

Philip on the other hand was feeling pretty good about himself for coming up with that gem of a barb. He purposefully left out Franco in his mini-rant even though he was by far the embodiment of boy-toy. He didn't know the details but he was pretty sure that topic was off limits between Sami and Lucas.

Lost in his own sense of satisfaction, Philip didn't even notice Sami stalking toward his still floor-bound figure until it was too late. "I thought I told you to listen," she said in the deadliest tone possible. She kneeled down in front of him and grabbed his chin in between her thumb and index finger. "That's quite a sassy little mouth you've got on you. I think I've seen a little too much of it lately."

Philip's feelings of satisfaction quickly reverted back to fear in the space of two seconds. Her fiery eyes were unreadable and he had no idea what to expect from her. He wished he did so he would know which body part to protect.

Sami leaned in, tilted her head to the side and smiled playfully. "I've got a much better use for this mouth actually." Lucas' eyes were as big as saucers. 'Good,' Sami thought. 'Now I can lay it on really thick. I know he'll be able to return the favor later anyway.' She licked her lips in the sexiest way possible all the while thinking about the things he was going to do to her with that smart mouth.

"So you think you're better than every other man I've been with, is that right? Well, you've had your witty little fun for tonight but fortunately for me I'm gonna need some proof. You understand that I'm sure." Sami let go of his chin and began to glide her finger across his lips and jaw.

"Now I want you to stand up, walk back over to that couch and finish what you started. That way you can put this sassy mouth to some good use other than pissing me off." She looked him up and down with the most smoldering look Philip had ever seen. "I want you to thoroughly ravish me--and when I say ravish..." Philip jumped when she pinched his bottom lip with no small amount of force. She also took the opportunity to trail her free hand down his body very slowly. "...I mean with your aforementioned mouth..." She grabbed a hold of his hand that was shakily supporting his body. "...and your hands..." With a slight lift of her eyebrow she continued to hold his gaze. "...And of course, whatever else you want to bring to the table." Before he knew it Sami had smoothly run her hot fingers over the throbbing hardness that was growing by the nanosecond at record speed. Well, she ran her hand over it as smoothly as one can when grabbing someone's crotch.

Philip doubted that there was enough blood left in his body to sustain his basic primary functions given that his entire supply had all conveniently shifted south. He barely felt Sami's touch retreat from him as she slowly and sensuously sauntered back over to the couch. The view from Philip's point of view was spectacular. She then proceeded to sit down and leaned over to lay across the couch on her side. She was holding her head up with her bent arm and was sensuously sliding her legs together as if she had an itch that she just couldn't scratch by herself.

'You need to be strong PK. This is Lucas' woman and Lucas' body. And if he found out, he'd kill you. He's probably in your body right now thinking about checking up on you and Sami.'

He glanced back at the couch in time to see Sami raise her top leg up and run her hands up and down her thigh. Sami just smiled at him knowingly. 'I know he so wants to get the last word in but not tonight. I've got one too many tricks in my bag. Any second now he's going to come running over here and then we'll both get what we want. Then maybe I can go back to sleep--all this foreplay is exhausting.'

Philip's mouth went completely dry as he raised himself up with every intention of running for the hills. But when he saw her run her hand from her upper thigh, over her stomach and up to her lips only stopping momentarily to caress her wonderfully flushed breasts, he found his feet frozen to the ground.

'Yeah PK, Lucas is probably sitting in your apartment right now...the apartment where you were just making out with Belle not 10 minutes ago. Where she was sitting in your arms—now his arms—half naked and practically begging for sex. Lucas is a guy's guy and he's been around the block and then some. Maybe he's thinking that he could get a nice little make-out session before tying the knot with Sami.' This thought caused a flash of irritation to run through Philip. In the back of his mind he realized that even considering Sami's shenanigans, if he had this woman waiting for him at home, there wouldn't even be one wandering flicker about getting some action elsewhere.

'Well, technically, physiologically speaking, I AM Lucas. And she did give me an order. I'm a good soldier, I can follow orders.' The wheels of rationalization were really turning now. "And I'm a very virile, young guy. Lucas couldn't really blame me for letting Sami have her wicked way with his body. He knows she's a hard woman to say no to.' Right now, his body was screaming nothing but yes, yes, yes. 'I could just pretend like I had no idea what was going on. I could even close my eyes and pretend that it's Belle I'm with.' But it wouldn't be Belle, it would be his future sister-in-law. The woman who had tried numerous time to destroy his mother. Besides, he loved Belle so much that even if he closed his eyes...

'Who am I trying to kid here? There is no way that I would close my eyes on that beautiful creature laying on the couch waiting for me—I mean Lucas. No, she's waiting for me even if she does believe that I'm Lucas. And she looks so hot right now—and she wants me bad. It's Belle's sister—that's not really that wrong—it's just a branch or two away on the same family tree. I am never again going to get the chance to live out this mind numbingly sexy fantasy. Never.'

But Philip knew it wasn't right. If there was any way he could explain to Sami what was going on, she would kick his ass into next year. And so would Lucas and Belle.

Philip got up and approached Sami's reclining form with a tremendous amount of trepidation. She looked nothing less than edible laying there like that. "So General, what are you waiting for?"

Philip finally looked down at her with shades of regret and a lifetime's worth of longing. 'I'm sure things will work out in the morning,' Philip thought.

And with as much haste as he could gather, he crawled on top of her and began to devour her inviting and arousing body. "What the Hell, life is short," he said while kissing her senseless. In the end, his fantasy of bedding Sami Brady was just too damn tempting. His last coherent thought as he heard Sami's sexy giggle was 'Lazy, useless boy-toy is it? I'll show her that PK is the biggest stud on the block.'


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Thanks a bunch to my reviewers. Your input is really helpful and much appreciated. I noticed that I was spelling Philip's name with an extra "l" so I went back and changed it. Those things drive me nuts—I find it distracting. So if you read the earlier version, hopefully it didn't bug you too much and I'll try to be better from now on. **

**I had a little fun with Belle in this chapter. Think of her as getting in touch with her inner Cassie. And just a warning--there's a lot of switching from dialogue to thoughts and I tried to keep the confusion to a minimum--bear with me on that. For those of you distressed about Philip and Sami, Chapter 8 is in production.**

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Lucas was running out of options. Belle just wasn't buying any of his attempts to be a sensitive, chivalrous guy. He was trying his best to dodge her advances in the name of protecting her virtue--didn't she understand that? Of course she didn't, she's young and her hormones are all swirling around and out of control. Ahhh, he remembered those days. Ok, he was still in the midst of those days. The only difference is that now his hormones were unabashedly controlled by one woman.

'Who knew that little Belle Black could be so aggressive. Must of picked up a thing or two from Sami—the Queen of Push and Shove.' He really needed to get out of there and find Philip so they could figure out what was going on—and to make sure he was keeping his horny little paws off of his woman.

Finally, Lucas realized he was going to have to ditch this nice guy routine because Belle was getting a bit out of control. He kept trying to keep ample space between them but she just kept stalking him around the loft waiting for her opportunity to attack.

"You know what Belle? I think the best thing right now would be if I went out for a little while to get some air. I'm going to go for a walk and that way you can take some time and make sure this is what you really want." He didn't care if she whined and pouted until her head exploded—he was getting the Hell out of there.

"You're going for a walk...at this time of night? Philip it's really late. I know you're a big, bad Marine but I don't think that's a good idea." Again she closed the distance between them and slid her body against his. "Besides, why would you want to go out in the cold, dark night when I can keep you warm and safe right here, right now."

Lucas quickly pushed her away not wanting her to get any inkling of an idea that that they were going to hook up. "Don't worry about me, I'll be ok. I'll be extra careful out there." He went to go get a shirt and jacket from the chair in the corner.

"Well, where are you going? Can I come with you?" Belle asked with whiney panic rising in her voice. Man, Philip could have Belle all to himself--or he could duke it out with Shawn for her affections for all he cared. All he knew was that as stressful as being with Sami was at times, if he had to go home to that every night, he'd be begging to get back on base.

"I don't know where I'm going Belle. I'm just going to wander. Maybe I'll stop by Lucas' place—he's a night owl so he'll probably be up for a brotherly chat and you won't have to worry about me." Lucas tried to slip on his sneakers as fast as possible seeing his potential escape coming up over the horizon. 'Oh it'll be a nice little brotherly chat if I find you or your tongue--my tongue--anywhere near Sami.'

"And no, you can't come with me. The whole point is that I want to give you time to think things over. Don't worry, it will all work out." He stood up looking ready to bolt at the first opening. 'It'll just have to work itself out without me. I'm outta here.'

Belle felt Philip slipping away and knew she had to resort to drastic measures. She quickly ran over to him and grabbed him around the neck. "No Philip you can't go over to Lucas' place. He's probably with Sami right now." She used their nearness to snuggle against him. "They're probably having hot, sweaty sex to celebrate their engagement." For extra measure, she slowly began rubbing her body up and down his. "They've probably been at it since they left the Penthouse Grill."

She looked up at him and gave him her sexiest look. "I bet that Lucas is giving her exactly what she wants..." She stopped to kiss his cheek. "...over..." She kissed his other cheek. "...and over again." She then slapped a wet kiss on his lips in a desperate attempt to make him stay. 'That oughtta do the trick,' Belle thought with a smug grin.

Unbeknownst to Lucas, Belle's words (and actions) just made him madder and more agitated. "He better not be." Lucas ground out between clenched teeth.

"What did you say?" Belle asked. She couldn't have heard him right. She dismissed it and decided to give him one of her best pouts instead. "You know, I'm starting to get a hint that you're trying to get away from me."

'You're just now getting the hint? Where the Hell have you been for the last 15 minutes when I've been pushing you away and running as far away from you as I can get.' Lucas had a lifetime's worth of trouble messing around with two sisters. If Sami had even the slimmest of suspicions that he had taken advantage of her sister, no matter how ludicrous the situation, she would cut him up in little pieces, put his body parts in plastic Ziploc bags—the gallon sized ones—and for good measure she'd FedEx his remains to his mother's doorstep with a pretty red bow. There was no way he was going down that road again.

"No Belle, it's not that at all. I just, uh...I need to think about umm...stuff. You do too."

"Well, are you coming back?" Belle asked quietly looking as if she was going to break down crying any minute. 'She sure knows how to switch gears in a hurry. It's a good thing I have so much practice with Sami.' Lucas felt bad for her but it was all about self-preservation right now. He had to look out for number one.

Lucas made sure to strategically back away towards to door so he could make a clean getaway. "Oh Belle, sure I'm coming back and when I get back, if you still want to, you know, uh, make love then we'll get right to it. Don't you worry." Lucas fumbled around trying to place his hands on the door handle.

'Hell no I'm not coming back. I'm going to go over the your sister's apartment, find out what's going on with my body and wring your boyfriend's little neck if he has so much as breathed on my woman. As for you, you seriously need to rush upstairs and take a cold shower, pronto, missy.'

Lucas was opening the door and was almost home free. That is until Belle bounced over to him. 'Just run Roberts! Push her down and get out now!' But of course he wasn't going to do that. "What is it now?"

"I need to show you something before you go. I only need a minute. Please, Philip? Just one minute and then I'll let you go on your walk. I just want to give you something to think about too while you're gone." Belle then turned around and ran up the stairs to her room.

"Now's your chance Roberts! Get out now!" Lucas tried to weigh the pros and cons of the situation not wanting to hurt Belle's feelings or ruin Philip's chances with her. But at the same time, if he had to spend another moment playing horny, teenage dodgeball he was going to go ballistic. His decision made, he was just about to slide the door open when Belle came running down the stairs again. He let out an audible groan and walked back over to the couch.

Belle heard Philip groan when she came back downstairs which confirmed what she already knew. Philip was breaking down and she had the perfect thing to convince him to stay and be with her.

"Philip, I know you're trying to protect me and after this, if you want to go for your walk and think about things then I won't stop you. But I need to give you this so you'll know how serious I am." With that said, she dropped her robe and stood in front of him completely naked wearing only a very lecherous smile on her face. She saw Philip's eyes look like they were going to pop out of his head and she knew that she had gotten the desired effect.

Lucas felt his eyes bug out of their sockets and could do nothing but curse himself for being the slowest, most unlucky bastard on the face of the Earth as he watched Belle strip down for him. 'Now I know I'm being punished.' Not that looking at Belle naked was exactly punishment--quite the opposite in fact. That was the problem.

His shock at her boldness was replaced by complete trauma and the slight feeling that he was going to Hell for what he had just witnessed. He did the first thing he could think of to restore the sanity and decency to his mind—he covered his eyes and hid behind the couch.

Belle, for her part, only stood there puzzled at Philip's reaction. 'I got naked for him and all he can do is cover his eyes and hide?' She knew she was inexperienced with this seduction stuff but she was no dog. Any other guy would kill to have her standing naked in front of them. Who wouldn't want a young, hot girl to strip down for them—even older guys like Philip's brother Lucas. She grinned as she recalled what people had told her about his reputation with the ladies. Even though Lucas loved her sister and wanted to marry her, she knew that even he wouldn't be able to resist her hot, young, naked body. 'I know he's playing hard to get but this is just ridiculous. Now I'm really going to have to re-double my efforts.'

"Oh, Phiiillliiip," she sang out. "Come out, come out wherever you are. I didn't know we were playing reverse hide-and-go-seek."

Since both Lucas and Belle were currently focused on other pursuits—Belle on Philip and Lucas on any possible miracle that could get him out of this torturous situation—they didn't notice the return of the mysterious shimmering cloud over their heads.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks again, loyal reviewers! I hope y'all are still enjoying the story. I tried to whip this one out a little sooner but various friends just kept interrupting me. I knew I should have stuck to writing at night. **

**FYI: I'm pretty ambivalent about the Philip/Belle/Shawn triangle. I hesitate to take sides since they all kind of bore me. Philip and Belle just fit the concept of my story better and K2 cracks me up. Hang on though, it's about to get weirder after this. **

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Philip could not believe that he was lying on a couch making out with Sami Brady at this very moment in time. Truth be told though, HE wasn't really making out with her since she thought he was Lucas and they were doing a little more than making out.

Sami was nothing less than amazing as she tantalized him with her half-naked body—teasing him one second and then attacking him the next. She could feel how ready he was for her and it was driving her crazy. But ever the perfectionist when it came to sex, if Lucas was only halfway on his game, he would keep her hanging on for quite a while longer.

She decided to tease him anyway. "You're not getting ahead of yourself, are you Lucas? You have a long way to go you know," Sami purred seductively.

Philip just moaned at the thought. He didn't think he would be able to last too long with what she was doing to his body. He was trying to live up to her challenge but he knew he was dealing with a champion. It was becoming clear rather quickly that Sami might just be way out of his league.

She had originally told him under no uncertain terms that she was expecting to be thoroughly taken by him if he wanted to keep all of his parts intact. But never one to be patient, she had quickly taken over and at this very moment was running her warm, wet tongue over one of his nipples. 'What is this woman doing to me? Actually, I know exactly what she's doing but I could never have imagined that it would feel this amazing. I just hope I can keep up.'

But if he was going down—in defeat that is—he was going to make it one hell of a ride. By now, all reason had left him—not the thought of what Lucas would do if he found out, not the thought of what could have been a special night with Belle and certainly not the disturbing fact that he had inexplicably switched bodies with his brother. All he could feel was this beautiful woman above him who clearly knew what she was doing and how well to do it.

Sami acknowledged that she had probably gotten a little ahead of herself but since she made the rules to their little game, she could surely break them. Besides, she felt so comfortable with Lucas that whenever they got intimate, she wanted to give into him and their love completely. Even when they were hating each other it was a compatible kind of hate. But now that they were in love, their compatibility made everything so much better.

However, he was acting rather strangely right now. For one thing, they both still had an awful lot of clothes on. They both tended to enjoy stripping each other down slowly but it was unusual for them not to be completely naked by now. He was also being awfully quiet and Lucas wasn't the kind of guy who ever shut up, especially in bed. Maybe he just needed some encouragement.

"Oh baby, you're making me so hot right now." There, that ought to get his juices flowing. Then they'd be even.

She leaned back up so that she was sitting over his throbbing manhood making sure to run her nails down his chest and stomach. While continuing to grind herself on top of him, she lifted up the bottom of her negligee and swiftly slipped it over her head.

When Philip got the full view of Sami—that is the full view of her voluptuous breasts and all that silky skin leading to the skimpiest of underwear—he knew he was a goner. He ran his hands tentatively down her body and closed his eyes thinking how horribly twisted this was. But he was completely unable to stop himself. He knew it was only a matter of time.

"Sami, I need to be with you right now." That was all he could get out considering where the majority of his cognitive efforts were focused.

Sami stopped and looked at him quizzically. 'What! He needs to be with me right now—that's the best he can do?' She could tell that he wanted her badly but did she have to do everything tonight? If this was how he was going to be then she foresaw a long road to the alter. It seemed that when she had told him to 'ravish her,' he had heard 'lay back and enjoy the ride.' She agreed with his earlier statement that she was giving in bed but he was taking it a little too far. Well, she'd give him something alright.

If Philip had had any brain cells left that were not focused on sex, he would have been able to detect the shift in Sami's mood and minimize the injuries that were about to befall him. But as it was, he was enjoying the feel of Sami's body rubbing against his and thinking about what he was going to do with all the tasty flesh she had exposed to him. Therefore, it came as quite a shock when Sami quickly climbed off of his lap and pushed him to the floor.

"What the Hell is wrong with you Lucas!" Philip was slow to come around still reveling in a fog of lust and desire but when he registered the sound of fury in Sami's voice, he diverted his attentions as fast as his sex-focused mind would allow. He couldn't help but cringe in fear when he looked up and saw her angry figure looming over him from the couch.

'She wouldn't hurt me right? She loves me—I mean Lucas. Maybe this is part of their foreplay. She gets mad, he reacts and then they have mind-blowing make-up sex. I'm voting for that scenario.' He couldn't help feeling a bit exposed and vulnerable after the heavy action they were engaged in just 30 seconds ago. 'What could have pissed her off that quickly? Really, what's her problem now?' Although he still held a healthy amount of fear in his eyes, he was quickly becoming irritated by her unpredictable mood swings.

Now Sami knew something was off. She had had a lot of run-ins with the citizens of Salem and given her history, most everyone was a little bit afraid of her—well, maybe not Victor Kiriakis but most people. On the other hand, Lucas, for all his annoying as well as endearing traits, had never been afraid of her. Whenever she pushed his buttons in the worst way, he just came back with some lethal comeuppance of his own. Although she hated to admit it (and would never admit it to him) Lucas knew her better than anyone so he had gotten good at navigating her moods—a little too good truth be told.

She was pulling her usual drama queen antics to express her displeasure with him. On the Sami scale of aggression it was about a 1.5 but Lucas was looking at her like she had just pulled a knife on his mother (that sure had been fun). Under normal circumstances he would have been on her case by now, not looking like she was going to go Lorena Bobbitt on him. In fact, under normal circumstances, Lucas wouldn't have pissed her off in the first place.

She threw her negligee back on and started to yell at him in earnest. "So I'm giving in bed am I? That's what you told me not even a couple of hours ago. Well, I'll show you how giving I can be Mr. Lazyboy." Philip had no time to dodge out of the way as Sami balled up their blanket from the couch and threw it at his head. It was then followed by two couch pillows. He would have thought they'd be softer. "How do you like that Lucas," Sami said before leaping off the couch.

'The verdict is in—this woman is completely insane. Certifiable.' Philip thought. Sami was hot but there was no way in the world he would want to come home to this loony bin every night no matter how good the sex. Lucas could have her all to himself for the rest of his life for all he cared—what a sucker. He hadn't done a thing to her and she was going off like he had called out another woman's name.

"Sami, what's wrong?" Philip asked still completely clueless about what had set her off. He was looking at her like she had grown two heads and an extra boob--part ignorance, part lust.

"'What's wrong, Sami?' That's all you have to say? You are so pathetic Lucas. I'll give you something good." She walked over to the dresser by the door and picked up an unidentifiable object.

As Lucas' keys hit Philip in the forehead, it was clear that slow reflexes must run in the family—or maybe it had something to do with Lucas' head.

"Why don't you take your keys and your lazy hormones and go back to you own apartment. Then maybe you can figure out how to enjoy my 'giving' nature from down the hall." Philip could practically see the smoke coming out of her ears and he hadn't even done anything. Little did he know that that was exactly why Sami was pissed off.

'Well, if Lucas wanted to wake up to this every morning then good luck.' He knew he should try to salvage some parts of the encounter for Lucas' sake. He felt bad thinking of Lucas coming back to his body at the top of Sami's hit list with no recollection of how he got there. But as far as Philip was concerned, this chick was crazy and he wasn't going to tangle with her.

Then a horrific thought struck him. 'What if Lucas and I can't get back to our own bodies. What if I'm stuck here forever. No one would believe this crazy story—they'd think we'd both lost it.' Not that he didn't love his brother but when he contemplated spending a lifetime in Lucas' body it made him physically ill.

He had to find Lucas and fast--as soon as he got past Tropical Storm Sami. He laughed to himself about his new name for her--she could even be her own Barbie Doll. It would come with a set of knives and a Ouija board for predicting her moods.

'Ok, enough of this crap. I'm getting out of here,' Philip thought as he got up. Sami was standing there with her arms crossed in front of her waiting for some kind of response. He thought his best strategy was to stay calm and make a clean getaway. He held his hands out in front of him in a sign of surrender and carefully tried to make his way to the door. "I don't know what I did Sami but I'm really sorry. I think going back to my place is a really good idea right now."

Apparently that was the wrong response. Philip thought she couldn't get any madder but as usual, he had underestimated Sami Brady.

Sami swore she was physically seeing red right now. The last 24 hours had been a real roller coaster ride and she was really feeling the rush at this very moment. She went over a quick recap in her mind of the last 20 minutes in an attempt to find some hint of sanity in Lucas' behavior. First, he wakes her up to have sex; then when she starts getting into it, he lays there and acts like he's not interested anymore; to make matters worse, he provokes her by implying that he's worlds better than Brandon and Austin—stupid men and their egos. Of course, when she tries to give him a second chance to push their little encounter back into the steamy category, he expects her to do all the work despite her direct order to the contrary! To top it all off, when she gets mad at him, he acts completely weird and has the audacity to try and walk out on her without even the slightest attempt to fight back. The nerve of him! If she didn't love him so much she would kick his ass into next week.

"Fine then Lucas—go! But first I want you to know that you are the sorriest excuse for a man—no, the sorriest excuse for a human being ever to exist and I can't wait to get you out of my sight." As Lucas headed for the door she went to stomp off to her bedroom. From there she could give the door a nice, satisfying slam—something she clearly wasn't going to get tonight.

Philip figured that it was safest to not say anything and leave quickly. His attempts at talking had only gotten him in worse trouble with her. 'Whatever Sami—I'm feeling the love all over. This is all very heartwarming but I'm outta here to go find my real body and get back to loving on the right woman. Oh Lord, what was I thinking trying to hook up with you.'

He kept these thoughts to himself though. Sami Brady was obviously the most high-maintenance, most moody, most unpredictable woman on the planet—that just happens to have one hell of a rack. Man, she was a fine specimen of the female species. But from now on, he'd stick with the perfect girl for him--Belle Black. She was the most beautiful and special woman he could ever hope to be with. Besides, even if she was a little whiney, and kind of a goody-goody, she was a wonderful, caring person and definitely not crazy like his brother's future wife.

The last time Philip looked, Sami had been heading to her bedroom in a huff. Since his back was to her he didn't notice the shimmering cloud that Sami walked right through but he instantly felt strange as he was unable to move his body from his position in front of the door.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Let the weirdness begin. So I thought I'd warn y'all that from this point on, this will be a primarily Lumi-focused story. C'mon, like you didn't see it coming—it's pretty much been a Lumi story all along, right? Fortunately for me, Philip and Belle are now much more secondary characters in a greater Lumi scheme. There will still be some funny Phelle moments but from here on out, I'm shifting gears. It's for the best really. They're really hard for me to write for because I don't know as much about their characters—certainly not as much as I know about Lucas and Sami. I don't want to butcher them so if you were waiting for some good Phelle stuff, I apologize profusely for leading you on but I hope you still read and enjoy.**

**Also, I whipped this puppy out at around midnight when I swore I wasn't gonna write another chapter today and I would finally go to bed at a decent hour. So much for that plan—I got sucked in. Forgive my typos and rest assured that I'll fix them later and don't be too surprised if you see a re-write of this chapter. **

**I almost forgot. I rewrote the last paragraph of Chapter 8 to make a smoother transition to this chapter. I'll include it here in case you don't want to go back and read it. **

**CHAPTER 8 (excerpt)**

The last time Philip looked, Sami had been heading to her bedroom in a huff. Since his back was to her he didn't notice the shimmering cloud that Sami walked right through but he instantly felt strange as he was unable to move his body from his position in front of the door.

**CHAPTER NINE**

Lucas felt as if he had regressed about 20 years as he crawled around the floor in what seemed like a futile attempt to escape Belle. Unfortunately for him, she just kept sing-song-ing Philip's name over and over again like that was really going to make him swoon with desire. If he caught her first, he might have to ring her neck just to shut her up—she was giving him a headache. What he wouldn't give to be back on that warm, comfortable couch with Sami in his arms instead of trapped in his brother's body running from his horny future sister-in-law.

He could hear the faint shuffling of her bare feet against the floor and he could tell that she was gaining on him. 'Maybe I should just make a mad dash for the door. It's not like she could follow me.' But in the state she was in, she would probably do just that. Women.

What Lucas couldn't see from the floor was Belle shamelessly stalking him around the couch not even noticing when she stepped through a shimmering cloud of empty space. It looked kind of weird but Belle figured that her vision was being blurred by the desire she felt for Philip. She could never have suspected what was in store for her in the near future.

But, of course, Lucas didn't see any of this so when the yelling started he found himself completely unprepared.

"He is such a fucking stupid, selfish...man! I hate Lucas Roberts right now!" Lucas was shocked not only at the strange change in Belle's mood but also her use of such colorful language. He had never imagined Belle would curse like that with such venom—it sounded so odd to hear those words coming out of her mouth. Not to mention the fact that she had cursed his name and seemingly out of the blue.

"'I'm just going to go back to my apartment'" Sami whined in a mocking voice. "He is so clueless and I'm going to make him sweat this one out. And why is it so fucking cold in here! Stupid Lucas probably left all the windows open just to irritate me."

Lucas could not believe what he was hearing. He wasn't able to see from where he was crouched down on the floor but he could swear that even though he hadn't heard a knock or the door sliding open, Sami Brady had somehow gotten into the room. And she was not happy—apparently not happy with him in particular. And for some reason she sounded a lot like Belle. But that was ridiculous, of course. It couldn't be...unless...

No fucking way!

It sounded like Sami had stopped ranting long enough to figure out something was wrong with her current situation. "Oh great! Now I'm going crazy. Maybe I fell and hit my head or Lucas threw something at me to get even because it looks an awful lot like I'm at Belle's place." She finally looked down at herself and discovered that not only was she obviously in Belle's loft, but that she was not wearing a stitch of clothes. "Where is my damn nightgown! Why in God's name am I walking around Belle's apartment naked."

Lucas, having gone through this already, thought it might be a good time for him to make an appearance and explain things. At least she hadn't woken up in a lip-lock with her future in-law--and if she had, Philip was in serious trouble. It grossed him out just thinking about it.

As Sami continued to inspect herself and her surroundings, Philip, a.k.a. Lucas popped up from the other side of the couch. She didn't notice him standing there so lost in her inspection but when she did she let out a blood-curdling scream that was probably breaking glass and popping eardrums over in the next block.

"Philip, what is going on? How did I get here? And why are you hiding in the corner while I'm standing here completely naked." She looked around frantically for something to cover herself up with and found the robe that Belle had discarded a few moments ago. "Did you enjoy the view? I always knew you were a little pervert just like your brother."

"Wait, no, you don't understand. I can explain..."

"Oh, you better explain you creepy bastard," Sami yelled as she slid the robe on. "You wait until I tell Belle about this and you can just kiss that little obsession goodbye."

Lucas began walking towards her to grab her arms but then thought better of it. "You're going to have to calm down. This is some messed up stuff and we need to figure it out."

"I've already got it figured out. Somehow you drugged me or knocked me out, took off all my clothes and brought me over here, Lord knows why. I bet your psycho of a mother has something to do with it. Seeing Lucas propose to me finally pushed her over the edge. I don't know what kind of sick, twisted game this is but when I get to the bottom of it, somebody's coming out in a body bag. And to think I always figured you were a nice kid—a little pathetic but nice." She watched suspiciously as he tried walking toward her but she backed up quickly and held her arm out in a clear warning. "You keep your distance Philip Kiriakis or I can guarantee that you'll lose a limb."

Lucas had heard enough. She needed to get a grip and now. "Would you shut the Hell up Sami! God, if you would stop ranting for a second you'd realize that no one in their right mind would punish themselves by trying to kidnap you. Or if they did, they'd turn around and bring your smart ass back after they had a sample of that gigantic mouth of yours."

Sami stood there in shock at Philip's words. She would expect such statements from Lucas but she never figured that Philip would have it in him to talk to her like that. Whatever the reason, he was giving her a headache. She already felt really weird. She sounded strange too but she thought it might be because of whatever drug they had used on her.

Now that he had her attention, he needed to break it to her gently that for some odd reason, they had jumped into their siblings bodies. He didn't even think Sami realized yet that she had miraculously transformed into Belle Black in the space of a few seconds. Lucas tried his best Sami-soothing voice on her even though it sounded funny coming out of Philip's mouth.

"Sami, I know you're feeling strange and confused but you need to listen to me right now. It's very important that you hear what I have to say." He walked up to her and took her by the arm. From the looks of things she was finally understanding that something was amiss with her body. He pulled her towards the bathroom and was a little surprised when she didn't protest.

"Sami, I know it sounds impossible but for some reason you have been put into Belle's body. I assume that she was put into yours too and is at your apartment right now but you need to realize the seriousness of this situation." He looked into her eyes for any sign that this was sinking in. Unfortunately, Sami was giving him a look that told him she clearly thought he was a psychotic freak and had lost his mind. Really, he didn't blame her. He had a hard time believing it too and he had been living it for the past half hour.

To Lucas' surprise, Sami then burst out laughing. "Surely you and Kate could have thought of something better than that story? I would have expected a lot more from the Mistress of Manipulation and her spy wannabe son. But I will give you points for originality." Lucas could see the rage boiling up on Belle's face and if there was any doubt that Sami was in there it had been completely erased by that one look.

"That's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard. I can tell you one thing though. If you don't get your crazy, kidnapping hands off me right now, you do not even want to think about what I'm going to do to you." She looked up at him bitterly with a hint of sadness in her eyes. "And I thought you were on our side Philip. Lucas is going to kill both of you, you know. Kate needs to get it through her slutty skull that Lucas loves me and there's nothing she can do about it. Did you know that she promised Lucas that she was going to make a truce with me? I knew she wouldn't be able to hold up her end of the bargain. I should have told off that cow a million times and I almost screwed up my future with Lucas because of my loathing of her. But I realize now that I don't need to get even with her as long as I have Lucas' love and support. Maybe one day she'll learn that."

Lucas was stunned by her outburst but only momentarily. He knew he could lose Sami at any moment and he had to make her see the truth. So without concern for the safety of his brother's body, he grabbed Sami by the shoulders and turned her around to face the mirror.

"Don't you grab me you pint-sized gorilla! I don't care if you're a Marine, you can't treat me this way and I'll make sure you pay. I can't believe how awful this night has turned out to be. I was so happy celebrating my engagement to Lucas in the privacy of my home. Then Lucas had to go and prove what a big disappointment he can be sometimes just in time for you and your bitch of a mother to kidnap and humiliate me." Sami glanced into the mirror and continued with her angry tirade with no sign of stopping. "And now to add insult to injury, I seem to have magically transformed into my sister Belle. Oh, I bet you love that Philip since you—" Sami stopped and looked back into the mirror. For the first time she was registering that she had indeed swapped bodies with her sister.

"Oh. My. God." Sami got as close to the mirror as she could get and tapped it with her finger to make sure it was real. She then proceeded to poke and prod her face and body while the reality of the situation became clear to her.

"See Sami, I told you. Listen we have to figure something out. I've been thinking about it ever since I woke up and—" But Sami had already calmly walked out of the bathroom. He followed her as she went over to the sofa and lay down across it. She grabbed a blanket that had been hanging on the back and covered herself.

"What the Hell are you doing? This is serious Sami, we've got to find out what's going on." He was already irritated from dealing with Belle and his patience was wearing very thin right now. He could endure the insults she had spewed out about his mother and brother because he knew she was in shock. Plus he was kind of touched by her words—call him crazy but leave it to Sami Brady to melt his heart while calling his mother a crazy, manipulative bitch.

"I've got it figured out Philip," Sami said calmly. "I must be dreaming. My subconscious almost had me—this is so vivid—but I'm not falling for it. I wonder why you're here though. No offense but I can't imagine why in the world I would need to conjure you up."

Sami was cracking up. He had to act fast. "Sami, listen to me. I am not Philip. I'm Lucas. The same thing happened to me about a half hour ago. You are not dreaming and neither am I." For extra emphasis he gave her a pinch on her ass which conveniently for him was the closest place he had access to.

"Oh you're Lucas, of course. Now it all makes sense." Sami turned back over and closed her eyes as if Lucas hadn't spoken to her at all. That pinch sure did feel real though. "This must be one of those lucid dreams I read about " She snuggled into her blanket and resumed her obvious trip to fantasyland. "Well 'Lucas'," she said with emphasis, "I'm just going to go back to sleep and maybe when I get up, I'll be myself again and I'll be back in my apartment with some clothes on. Goodnight and see you around." Sami rolled over with her back to Lucas who was sitting at the edge of the couch.

'Ok, now I've got to resort to drastic measure.' He knew it was very likely to piss her off but now was not the time for subtlety or fear of Sami Brady's wrath. He grabbled the bottom of her blanket and the bottom of her robe and pulled until Sami flopped unceremoniously to the floor.

"Philip, you bastard. Get out of my dream before I do serious harm that you'll feel in the waking world." She scurried to get back on the couch but Lucas just grabbed a hold of her shoulders and forced her to look at him. He scared even himself with the intensity of his words.

"For God's sake Sami, I AM Lucas, you are NOT dreaming and we both are in some deep shit right now. You know it's me because I'm the one who you told all your little secrets to when we were teenagers. I remember the first day I saw you backstage at that Cherish concert—not really my finest hour but what a way to make a first impression, right. I was there for you after Alan raped you and all those times that Austin disappointed you. You always confided in me then before things got bad between us. I can recite to you right now, every horrible insult that I threw at you over the years—all the horrible things my mother and I did to you." He could tell that he had her attention as she listened to him ramble on about their long history. He hated to remember some of those times but she needed to understand.

I know you know about Franco's death and our little trip to Italy. Philip wouldn't know those things. He also wouldn't know those sweet things you said to me in that cave during Will's camping trip--even those things you won't admit to saying. Philip wouldn't know that for some reason I'll never understand, you only use soap that doesn't have a scent but your neck always smells like the lavender lotion you use before going to bed. I know that you hold your breath and swallow 5 times to get rid of hiccups and that you check on Will two times every night while he's sleeping. I bet no one knows how perfect you felt on that one night when I wanted you to feel just how special you were to me—or how you felt all those years later when we made love for the second time. I told you I loved you that night, remember? You called me out on it. There's never been anyone that makes me feel the way that you do Sami Brady. That's what I figured out when I asked you at least three times tonight to spend the rest of your life with me."

Sami couldn't believe that these words were coming out of Philip's mouth. There was no way he could have known some of that stuff. Only Lucas would know.

"Lucas?" Sami whispered while holding what looked like Philip's face in her hand—Belle's hand actually. "How can it be you?"

She was starting to cry now and even though she was in Belle's body, it didn't make it any easier for him to watch. He slid her over on the couch and held her in his arms. "I don't know, baby," Lucas said while rocking her and wiping her tears away. "I just know that we need to get through this together. We need to figure this out, sweetie. Can you help me?"

Sami looked up at him with Belle's tear-streaked face. Maybe it was his imagination but he swore he could see her in there. She stared at him for a moment and then slowly nodded her head. "Ok, General. So now what do we do."

Lucas let out a huge sigh of relief. Now that he had jumped that hurdle he could move on to the next one. But at least he wouldn't be doing it alone.

"We'll figure it out Sami. I promise." He then absentmindedly kissed her on the top of her head. It felt a little weird but it felt right too. Still, neither noticed the strange glances they were giving each other.

"Lucas?"

"Yeah, baby."

"I love you and I'm so glad that I'm not going through this alone." He gave her a supportive squeeze and continued to caress her arms and back. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Could you let go of me? No offense to your brother but I feel very weird laying here naked in his arms if you know what I mean."

Lucas immediately let her go with relief written all over his face. He moved to the far end of the couch and wiped his sweaty hands on his pants. "I thought you'd never ask."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Another post-midnight chapter. I apologize for the typos. This was a very difficult chapter to write but I hope I didn't screw things up too bad. Needless to say, I'm glad to get it out of the way. **

**CHAPTER TEN**

Philip was starting to panic when he was unable to move from his spot in front of Sami's door. But almost as soon as it hit him, it was over and he felt himself stumbling a few steps backward as if he had bounced off of an invisible forcefield. He waited to hear the sound of Sami slamming her bedroom door but it never came. He casually glanced in her direction and saw Sami just standing there looking a little ill. His concern momentarily overrode his earlier sense of self-preservation and he walked over to make sure that she was alright.

"Are you okay? Not that I care or anything but you look sick and I thought I'd make sure you were alright. After all, I need to get back to my apartment and out of your sight so I can ponder how crazy you are." He wasn't so concerned about her that he was going to let her off the hook for yelling at him for no reason at all.

Belle heard his voice but was feeling a little dizzy and weird after her little game of cat and mouse with Philip. She hoped he was worth all this trouble. She felt the silkiness of fabric against her skin and wondered when she had put her robe back on.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Clearly annoyed, Philip stared at her as she just stood there looking dazed and confused. "Well, whatever. I'm outta here anyway." He turned around to go but stopped when she heard her softly call out his name--well his body's name. Apparently he was just the babysitter at the moment.

"Lucas? Where did you come from? Shouldn't you be with Sami right now having your own private celebration. Wait—this is Sami's place. How did I get here? Did Philip bring me over here?"

Philip, who had been retreating back towards the front door, stopped abruptly and turned to look at the woman who a moment ago, he thought was Sami. 'This can't be. Well, I guess it can since it happened to me. If that's Belle in Sami's body right now, we are in worse trouble than I thought.'

Philip watched as Sami—or more likely Belle—inspected herself by touching the material of her nightgown and running her hands through her now very long hair. She even briefly grabbed her breasts and he heard her say softly, "Those exercises are really paying off. Wow."

Belle then realized that she was somehow at Sami's house wearing a negligee and that Philip's brother Lucas was looking at her suspiciously. He still hadn't answered her question though. "Lucas, where's Sami? I don't know how I got here but I don't feel so good and I want to go home now." She had that weepy look in her eyes that Philip had gotten so used to seeing over the past several months and he knew she was seconds from breaking down on him.

Philip rushed over to her side and pulled her into an embrace. "Belle, why don't we sit down and I'll try to explain all of this to you. I'm afraid it's going to be quite a shock." Belle was a little freaked out that Lucas was holding her so close but he was a nice guy and probably just trying to console her. Most people had the urge to comfort and protect her at all times. It made her feel so special.

When Philip had gotten Belle to sit down on the couch—only briefly remembering what had been going on there five minutes before—he turned to her and searched for the right way to explain their situation.

"Belle—it is you in there right?" Philip asked hesitantly. He was no expert but he figured that you couldn't be too careful when dealing with body switching etiquette.

"Of course it's me Lucas? You're acting kind of weird. What's going on?" A stray tear had slid down her cheek and Philip fought the urge to wipe it away like he would have if the actual Belle were sitting in front of him. But if such an action came from Lucas, Belle might think that it was kind of creepy.

"I know this is going to sound crazy but something impossible has happened to us. Well, it can't be that impossible since it's happened..." Philip tried not to babble on while looking for the appropriate words of explanation. "I'm just going to come out and say it." He took a deep breath and let her have it. "Belle, it seems that we've switched bodies with our siblings. I'm not Lucas, I'm Philip and right now I'm not looking at the Belle Black I know but at the face and body of Sami Brady."

Belle didn't immediately react like she was sitting next to a crazy person but it was clear from her body language that she thought he was completely bonkers. She had stiffened slightly and nonchalantly tried to move away from his position beside her on the couch.

"Uh, Luc-Philip—whatever! This is crazy. I need to go home right now." She was now not making any attempt to hide her unease and had moved all the way to the other end of the couch. "Oh Lucas, you haven't started drinking again have you? You just got engaged tonight—I thought you were happy." Philip quickly concluded that the idea of spending the rest of his life with Sami would surely drive him to drink but kept that thought to himself.

"Sami and Will are going to be so disappointed in you, Lucas. What on Earth possessed you to get drunk and start talking crazy? And how did I get here? I was in my apartment with Philip and all of a sudden, I felt sick and dizzy and I was standing here. I need to find Philip so he can take me home right now." Tears were streaming down her face and he could tell that she didn't believe a word he said. Maybe he had used the wrong strategy.

"Listen Belle. I am not Lucas and I have not been drinking. I'm Phil—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know...you're Philip and I'm Sami and I'm going to go call somebody to come get me and to check up on you. Maybe I should call your mother—I don't know where Sami is but you need to talk to someone right now Lucas." She got up and headed towards the phone.

Philip panicked at the thought of his mother coming over and joining this madness. "NO BELLE," Philip shouted running to cut her off. "You don't need to call my mother. I am not drunk I promise you."

Belle-slash-Sami didn't look convinced but she stopped going for the phone. She paused and scrutined him closely. For a second, Philip thought she was coming around. "Okay, you're not drunk." Philip let out a deep breath he hadn't even noticed he was holding. By letting down his guard, he had left himself vulnerable to surprise once again.

"Are you high then?" she asked quietly. "It's fine if you are, that's none of my business but maybe you shouldn't keep this kind of thing from Sami. I know she wouldn't like it." She glanced around at what looked like an otherwise empty apartment. "You still haven't told me where she is by the way." Philip just stared at her with shock and irritation on his face. Belle, for her part, was showing a little irritation of her own. "Well, this IS still her apartment even if you two are engaged now."

Philip was starting to get more than a little frustrated. "Listen Belle, I am not drunk or high and I'm not lying about this." He turned her to face the mirror that hung next to the door. "Look Belle! You are not 'you' right now and we've got to figure out what's happened to us and how we can fix it."

Belle looked into the mirror and just stared at the reflection for several long moments. Then it all finally made sense--as absurd as it seemed. She couldn't believe that she was staring at the reflection of her sister, Sami Brady instead of her own sweet, wholesome likeness. As reality set it, she covered her mouth and started to cry in earnest.

"Oh my God, this can't be happening. I cannot be Sami! There is no way I can live like this." She looked back at Lucas in a panic. She was really letting out the waterworks now. "Everybody hates her, I can't have people hating me. I'm the good one!" She continued to weep in horror and despair as she tried to come to grips with her new identity. "And how can you be Philip? You look and sound just like Lucas. Is this some kind of joke or trick?" She was almost hysterical at this point.

Philip tried desperately to think of something to calm her down. "Belle, it IS me, Philip." He racked his brain to think of something only she would know. "Do you remember what we were about to do tonight." He glanced down at his watch. "It was just a little over thirty minutes ago Belle. I told you that you were my mystery girl and that I loved you." She looked at him, tears streaming down her face. She looked like she was listening to him but he didn't know if it was sinking in. "You told me that you wanted to make love to me. You didn't want to think about Shawn or the consequences...you just wanted to be with me tonight." Actually, anyone in Salem could have told her that Philip was in love with her. But the timing of the revelation was rather convincing.

Belle shook her head in disbelief. "How can you know that? You can't know."

"I do know Belle because I was there." He looked into her eyes and tried to show her the love that he had for her. "I wanted you just as much as you wanted me. I wanted to make love to you Belle and I would have if I hadn't gotten trapped in my brother's body right before things starting going right for us."

Belle had stopped crying and looked at him quizzically. "Right before we started? Is that when you say you...knew something was wrong?" She wasn't ready yet to admit out loud that they had actually switched bodies with Lucas and Sami. She walked back over to the couch and plopped down. "Well, that would certainly explain a lot."

It was Philip's turn to look confused. He thought back to when he was trying to talk himself into being with Sami. He briefly considered that Lucas would be the one making out with Belle since that was what he had been doing right before the switch. Of course, he never fully considered that Lucas and Belle would have taken things so far.

He had to fight back the burning rage that was building up inside of him. He couldn't believe his own brother would take advantage of someone like Belle—especially when he had committed his life to Sami not three hours before. Once a ladies' man always a ladies' man right? What a sick bastard. Then again, he had been willing to take things all the way with Sami but that was different. Sami was, well...she was Sami. She wasn't the innocent virgin that Belle was—and hopefully still is.

"What the Hell are you talking about Belle? What happened when we started to make love?"

It was still really weird to look into Lucas' face and think of Philip being in there but she was starting to believe it. She could tell what Philip was thinking about Lucas—or more importantly, what he suspected Lucas had done when they switched bodies. She could see the anger in his eyes and figured she better straighten things out fast.

She knew the situation was serious but when she thought back on it now with this new information, it was all falling into place—Philip abruptly pulling away and insisting they wait and the ensuing chase that followed. She started to laugh thinking about poor Lucas trying to escape her advances, now finding his various, awkward excuses cute. She also thought it was a testament to his love for her sister and his brother—and his respect for her—that he didn't want to touch her or take advantage of her in any way.

Although she wouldn't admit it to Philip for fear of hurting his feelings, it also explained how incredibly good Lucas was at making love to her before he must of realized what was going on. Sami was one lucky woman—she better hold on to him for that reason alone. Enough of those thoughts. She had a fire to put out.

Philip had no idea why Belle was laughing but he surely didn't see anything funny about the idea of Lucas putting his hands on her. Finally, she calmed down enough to explain. "It's okay, nothing happened. I was just thinking that this whole situation explains your reaction to me when I tried to seduce you—or how Lucas reacted to me anyway." Philip paused hoping this explanation was going somewhere safe.

"Lucas must have realized who I was and what was going on because for the last half hour he's been treating me like I have the latest strain of leprosy to hit Salem." She began giggling again thinking of all his attempts to get out of the apartment and the comical sight of him covering his eyes and leaping behind the couch when she stripped down for him. She then explained to Philip all that had happened after he had left his body and Philip couldn't help but laugh too picturing Lucas hiding from Belle--the virgin seductress who won't take no for an answer.

As Philip and Belle's laughter died down, they were left thinking about what would have happened between them if this unfathomable turn of events had not taken place. They would probably be lying in bed right now in the afterglow of their lovemaking reflecting on what a special evening it was—especially for Belle.

Belle was the first one to break the silence. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was pondering what could have been. Even though she was technically looking at Lucas, she could read his expression as if Philip himself was sitting in front of her. His features were so full of longing and regret that she ached to take the sadness away and to only make him feel joy. On impulse, she leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his lips. It didn't matter that she wasn't actually kissing Philip. It felt the same to her because her feelings for him were so strong and she knew she was connecting with him at that moment.

Philip was shocked but happy that she had initiated the contact. He felt weird about wanting to be near her considering that she was in Sami's body. But he couldn't deny that he still felt their connection. He took a chance and deepened the kiss until they were both breathless and overwhelmed with passion.

Philip pulled back and watched as Belle opened her eyes. He smiled nervously and ran his hand through his hair. "Did that feel weird to you too?" he asked. He did feel a little awkward considering his thoughts and actions towards Sami not even a few minutes before. That had been all wrong though. He knew Belle was the only girl for him.

Belle tilted her head as if in thought. "Actually, no. Surprisingly, it didn't feel weird at all. It felt right. Very right." Philip took that as permission to go with what he was feeling and kissed her again with even more desire than before. Before they knew it they were in the thick of a heavy make out session—except they were not in their own bodies but those of their older siblings. This small technicality seemed lost on them in their intense feelings of yearning for each other. It was enough to spark the passion that they had so recently ignited back at their apartment.

With great difficulty, Philip pulled back again and looked at the lust filled eyes before him. He knew that he had to take control of the situation. "Belle, we need to stop this before it goes any further. I want you so much—and not just your body. I simply want you. But this is too much right now and I want our first time to be special." He stroked her cheeks with his thumb and knew that he was reflecting back the love he could feel coming from her very soul.

Belle covered Philip's hands as they cradled her face. "Philip Kiriakis—always trying to protect me." She looked at him shyly. "I was thinking something. Since these aren't actually our bodies, maybe it's not like it really counts." Philip stared at her in surprise both scared and excited by what he assumed she was proposing. "I mean, it's not like Lucas and Sami aren't intimate. They have a son for crying out loud," she said with a giggle. She quickly turned the conversation back to a serious tone. "It wouldn't really be our official first time if we were to give in to what we're feeling and experience only pleasure with these bodies. I'm sure your brother and my sister wouldn't mind." She gave him another grin. "They were probably going at it before you switched anyway."

Now that he thought about it, when he had realized he was in Lucas' body, he and Sami had been in the middle of some pretty heavy making out themselves. Plus, it was clear by Sami's reactions throughout the night that they were quite a passionate couple with a healthy sex life. It still felt a little weird though, especially since Belle was the one suggesting it. Maybe he was just feeling guilty about what he had almost done with Sami.

As if reading his thoughts or maybe she was reading the doubt in his face, Belle tried to explain her unspoken request to him. "Listen Philip. The first time I make love to a man should be a wonderful thing but there are a lot of factors that are bound to make it uncomfortable for us." She ran her hand affectionately through his hair. It was so different from Philip's hair—very thick and dark. "Just think of this as a test run for the real thing without all of the awkwardness that is bound to happen when you sleep with a virgin for the first time. There won't be any pain or discomfort. There will only be us, together and loving each other. Our bodies aren't the important thing. I know my first time will be special as long as I'm with you in mind, heart and spirit." She then leaned in to kiss him again, showing him how it should be only about them tonight.

Belle gave Philip a few more searing kisses and smiled up at him with love. Shrugging her shoulders and lightly caressing his neck and back, she said, "Besides, Lucas is kind of hot for an old guy. Looking at him wouldn't be the harshest punishment ever."

"Hey!" Philip was about to protest and defend his male ego until he saw the playfulness in her expression. "Well, he is my brother. We share the same DNA you know." He pulled her into a tighter embrace and kissed her nose lightly. "You'll just have to settle for me then, won't you."

"My pleasure," Belle said and continued caressing his more than willing body.

Truth be told, Philip didn't need any convincing and would have eventually bowed to Belle's advances and their mutual attraction. But he now realized that it was important for her to say to him how she felt and that she was comfortable with the situation. Still, Philip couldn't help but worry.

"What about Lucas and Sami? Aren't they going to wonder what's going on with us. They might be on their way over here right now."

Belle just smiled thinking about what a handful Sami would be for Lucas as he tried to explain the crazy events that had befallen them. "Look how long it took you to convince me of what's going on. Imagine what it's going to be like for Lucas trying to explain this to Sami." They both chuckled at the thought, feeling not a little bit of sympathy for Lucas. They had no doubt that he knew how to handle Sami though. "We have time Philip. I want to be with you. Please make love to me."

Philip needed no further encouragement as he resumed kissing her. He picked her up from the couch and carried her toward the bedroom where he was going to make both of their fantasies come true--and a few fantasies they hadn't even bargained for. To anyone else it looked like business as usual between Sami and Lucas. Only the two young lovers knew the truth behind their amorous encounter as they finally gave into their desires.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

Lucas and Sami just looked across the couch at each other for a moment trying to take it all in. Sami had stopped crying by now and appeared deep in thought about something. Although Philip had grown up around her, she had never really stopped to take in his appearance since he'd reached adulthood. He was a nice looking guy—a little too bulky for her taste but she assumed some girls were into that. He was more fair than Lucas and his hair was a lighter color which wasn't really her thing. She liked her men tall dark and handsome. In Lucas' case, two out of three wasn't bad.

But Lucas had many redeeming qualities himself. He had the perfect body in her opinion—not too cut or overly bulky but very strong. It was a pleasant transformation from the little pipsqueak he had been when they first met. They fit each other's bodies so well too. There was no need to do much adjusting since they just seemed to mold against each other in the perfect compliment.

Although both brothers were pretty arrogant they were both nice guys at heart. Philip had certainly had his bad moments but she secretly appreciated how much he had been there for Belle when her pathetic excuse for a boyfriend skipped town on her. She loved her cousin Shawn Brady but she was still mad that he didn't even have the decency to break up with Belle in person. Was he locked up in a cage somewhere in the boonies and couldn't get to a phone? He could have at least called her.

Lucas, on the other hand, had a history of being cruel especially when it came to her. But it hadn't always been that way and she knew deep in her heart that she gave as good as she got—even better most of the time. However, things were different now and had been for a long time. Most importantly, Lucas loved her. She was ready to trust that now.

One thing was for sure though. Lucas was one hundred times better in bed than Philip could ever hope to be. The thought of his clumsy advances made Sami break into a sudden smile.

Lucas looked at Sami with amusement as she began to laugh. "Hey, what are you thinking about over there?"

She tried to suppress her grin but wasn't quite successful. "Oh nothing really. I was just thinking about you...and Philip. I was thinking about how different you two are."

"Comparing us how?" Lucas asked suspiciously. He had a sinking feeling that he probably didn't really want to know but he wasn't going to be able to concentrate until he found out how well his little brother had gotten to know his future sister-in-law.

Sami could tell where Lucas' mind had gone. She was going to have a little fun with him but decided that that would be a little too cruel. "Don't worry, nothing happened. The last thing I remember is yelling at him and throwing him—I mean you—out of my apartment."

Lucas couldn't help but feel sorry for Philip. He was used to Sami's unpredictable and volatile behavior but someone like Philip might not be able to handle it. He tried to stick up for his little brother and find out what exactly happened while he was gone. "Aww, Sami. That was uncalled for. I'm sure he didn't do anything."

"Hmph, that was the problem in the first place," Sami replied impulsively. She directed her attention back over to Lucas and noticed that the concerned look had returned to his face.

"What the Hell does that mean Sami? You better not tell me that Philip was leaving his mark on my territory if you know what I mean."

"Marking your territory? You've got to be kidding, Lucas! It was YOUR body." She started to laugh again as his expression quickly filled with jealousy and annoyance.

"I don't care Sami. He shouldn't be touching you. You're his brother's woman! He should know better no matter what kind of crazy situation we're in."

"Okay, Lucas, calm down. It's not his fault. We really didn't get that far at all and the whole thing was pretty strange anyway. But this does now explain a lot about what was going on with you—or him rather." She decided that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to give him too many of the details although in an odd sort of way, she was flattered that Philip had found her irresistible. "I thought you had woken me up to make love but when I started getting into it, it seemed like you weren't feeling it anymore. So I got mad at you and ordered you to make mad, passionate love to me and when I thought you had stopped making an effort, I yelled at you and kicked you out."

Lucas looked at her suspiciously to see if she was lying or keeping something from him. It was hard to tell seeing as how she now looked like one of the sweetest, most honest citizens of Salem. Even so, he knew she couldn't pull a fast one on him. "Well..." He continued scrutinizing her as she stared back innocently looking like ever the truthful Belle. "I guess that's not ideal but I suppose I don't have to beat my brother into a bloody pulp just yet."

"You really think you could take him, Lucas?" Sami shot back jokingly. She was really walking a fine line but she couldn't resist. "Just look at yourself right now."

Lucas knew that Sami was playing with him now and he wasn't going to let her get the best of him. "You're looking pretty different yourself. I don't think I've seen you look this..." He looked her up and down as she lay on the couch in Belle's robe and nothing else. "...Innocent. Come to think of it, I've never seen you look innocent Samantha." Lucas then sat back and without even thinking, shot her a lascivious looking smirk.

She laughed even harder at him as he tried to soothe his bruised ego. She marveled at his ability to give her that infuriating smirk even while in Philip's body. She'd show him though. She had a few questions of her own.

Lucas felt Sami's mood turn from playful to serious as she fixed him with a semi-deadly glare. "Speaking of which. Exactly what were you doing when I got here? If my memory serves me correctly, you were somewhere in this room while I was standing here bare-ass naked." Lucas' satisfied smirk disappeared in a heartbeat and was placed with a look of fear. "That's what I thought! Would you mind explaining that to me?"

"Sami, no, you can't think—I would never..." Lucas stumbled around trying to find the words to explain the really compromising situation it looked like he'd been in. Actually, it didn't look like it, it was a compromising situation—except Belle had been feeling a lot more compromising than he had.

Sami knew that she was insecure when it came to Lucas and other women but she was fairly certain that he could never have taken advantage of Belle. She was a baby to him. That didn't mean that she wasn't going to make him sweat it out though, especially after his last remark. He only had himself to blame.

Lucas had been trying unsuccessfully to explain and after his third try he was finally able to get his story out. Sami noticed the look of relief on his face as she laughed harder and harder throughout the story. "Oh my God, I would have paid to see that!" she said.

"Well, I'm glad you found my painful situation so funny. I'll have you know that I am now traumatized for life."

"Oh please, Lucas, this is my beautiful little sister we're talking about. You cannot tell me that you weren't a little turned on by having a sexy, co-ed virgin chasing you around and trying to jump your bones."

"Yes, she's your beautiful sister and I'm not disputing that she's attractive. But it's the 'little' part that was so gross. Sami, we were practically grown when those two were born," he said pointing to himself too. "Well at least I was." Sami gave him an annoyed look and he figured he better move on. "It was like they were babies just a few years ago." Lucas then looked a little nostalgic. "They grow up so fast, you know."

"Yeah, they do. Especially around here it seems." Now Sami had a wistful expression as well. "Sometimes, even I feel like a few years of my life just zipped by." Lucas had no idea what she was talking about but just smiled and nodded.

"I'm sorry I teased you Lucas. I know you wouldn't take advantage of Belle." Lucas continued to smile warmly at her. "I was just playing. You know if I even suspected that you had touched her I'd cut you up in a thousand pieces, stuff you in those Ziplock bags—you know the gallon sized ones—and I'd ship you special delivery to your mother's doorstep in a pretty package." Sami couldn't read Lucas' amused expression but he was smugly thinking that he did indeed know her very well.

"Trust me, you have nothing to worry about." Sami continued. "At the risk of stroking your already gigantic ego, I must say that Philip could never even dream of being as good as you in bed. But you better watch out--he might develop a little crush on me and you know how obsessive Philip can be when it comes to the ladies." Brother or not, Lucas couldn't deny that one.

"Seriously, don't be mad at Philip." Her expression turned more than a little carnal at her next comment. "You of all people, should know how persuasive I can be when it comes to you."

Lucas just smiled back at her knowingly. "I'm sure Philip didn't stand a chance—you ARE pretty hot for my body." He paused letting the gravity of his words sink in but it only gave Sami time to throw one of the couch pillows at him. Lucas made a noble attempt to save himself. "Sami, I can attest to the fact that you are very persuasive. You certainly have your ways and you can have your way with me anytime, baby."

He then quickly looked down at his body. "Well, maybe not right now. I think we should try to do something about this whole 'body switching thing,' don't you?"

"Right. So what's the plan, General?"

He looked at her still laying on the couch in her robe. "I think the first thing YOU should do is get dressed."

"Good point," Sami said and headed upstairs to put some clothes on.

She went into Belle's closet and tried to find something that didn't make her look too much like a cute, college co-ed. "Geez, and they say that I show a lot of skin. I don't think any of these clothes would cover me up completely."

Sami had to settle for some jeans and a tight T-shirt that showed off her tummy. She chose the T-shirt because it was plain, white and unremarkable except for the two words written on the front—Bad Girl. She thought it was appropriate.

She ran back down the stairs and found Lucas waiting for her. He took one look at her shirt and chuckled. "Pretty subtle, Sami." She just shrugged and went to look for her shoes.

"Did you call over to my apartment," Sami asked. Lucas nodded and began looking around for Philip's car keys.

"I called your place and mine plus both of our cell phones. No one was picking up. Do you think we should be worried?"

"Maybe they're both asleep," Sami said hopefully feeling a sense of dread build up.

Lucas was starting to feel a bit apprehensive himself. "Maybe, but why wouldn't they answer their phone? "Maybe they're on their way over here," he thought out loud.

Sami let out a dismissive grunt. "You mean Miss Goody Two-Shoes and the ultimate boy scout. They can't even tie their shoes without having a complete intinerary. They would have called to let us know they were coming." She did have a point on that one.

"Look, I don't want to think about what they're doing in our bodies right now but if I find Philip abusing my body, I'll break both his legs even if they are mine."

Sami just rolled her eyes at him. "Believe me Lucas, in the long run, it'll probably hurt you more than it would hurt him."

Lucas seemed to think about this. "As John Black would say, 'that's a fact.'"

Sami groaned and went to grab her jacket. "Lucas, this night is already weird. I'd appreciate if you didn't bring that psycho's name up. It's bad enough that for at least a few more hours, he's technically my father." Sami then seemed to soften at her words. "I guess I should be nicer though since he's paying for our wedding and honeymoon."

'Yeah that too,' Lucas thought. He figured it wiser not to mention that 'technically' John Black was her father anyway. But judging from the look on her face, she already realized the significance of what she said.

"Let's just beat them to it and drive over there. That way we can find out what's going on." Lucas had finally located Philip's car keys and they headed towards the door.

Just as they were closing the door, the phone began to ring. Sami quickly pulled the door back open and ran to answer it hoping it was Belle or Philip. It was about 1:00 in the morning and the only people who could be calling were the people who happened to be inhabiting their bodies.

"Hello? Philip is that you?"

An unfamiliar women's voice responded and Sami's heart sank with disappointment and panic. She was not in the mood for playacting and the thought of pretending to be Belle would just give her a headache.

"No Belle it's not Philip, it's me," the voice replied on the other end. When Sami didn't say anything back, the voice said, "Uh, Belle, it's me—Mimi. Oh, I guess I'm 'three Me's' tonight." She let out a forced laugh at that one but she wasn't really feeling witty at the moment. "Did you and Philip have another fight?" Sami felt herself breaking out in a sweat thinking of trying to fool Belle's best friend. She had to get her off the phone fast before she suspected something was up.

"Uh, Mimi, uh, no Philip and I aren't fighting. Umm, he just went out to get us a snack and I thought he was calling to see what I wanted. What's up?"

Belle sounded a little strange to her like she was in a rush to get her of the phone. Maybe it was because of the late hour. Or maybe it was because Mimi was upset about what could possibly be making her sick lately. Well, she would know for sure soon enough. Until then, she was going to keep things to herself. "Oh nothing important. I hope I didn't wake you up, I just needed a favor." Mimi knew she sounded tired but she was worn out from crying and worrying and didn't have the energy for her usual enthusiasm.

Sami didn't know Belle's friend very well but she seemed like a nice girl—one who talked entirely too much in her opinion. But she sounded upset and Sami's maternal instincts kicked in automatically. "Are you alright, Mimi? I can tell that something is wrong. Is there anything I can do?

Mimi could only respond with silence while her mouth was gaping open in shock. She was expecting her call with Belle to be at least half an hour long. At the end of the conversation, she would ask her favor but the first 20 or 30 minutes would surely be devoted to Belle's problems with Shawn or Belle telling her what a wonderful friend Philip was. Belle cluelessly believed Philip was only trying to be there for her after Shawn left and had no intentions of trying to get into her pants. Mimi was sure she would figure out the truth sooner or later. From the looks of how things were going earlier in the evening, it was bound to be sooner rather than later.

"Mimi, are you there? You can tell me what's wrong if you need any help."

Mimi still didn't know how to respond but managed to get something out of her mouth. "Uh, umm, no Belle, I'm fine." She then remembered her favor. "I was wondering if I could borrow your car tomorrow. I have an, um, appointment and Rex needs my car tomorrow for a meeting."

Sami was sure that something was wrong that Mimi didn't want to tell her but she figured that it wasn't her business and Mimi would tell Belle when she was ready. "No problem, uh, Meems." She was sure she had heard her sister call Mimi that from time to time. "I'll just leave my car keys on the kitchen counter. You still have a key to the loft right?"

'I'm sure she still has the keys,' Sami thought. Mimi had been living here just a few months ago before she started shacking up with her half-brother Rex. Both of those kids were a little weird and probably deserved each other.

"Yeah, I still have the keys. Thanks a lot Belle. I owe you one." She couldn't believe that Belle had not mentioned Shawn or Philip once since the conversation started. On top of that she could tell Belle knew something was wrong but just wasn't pushing her on it. 'It must just be me,' Mimi thought. 'I'm starting to crack up. Rex isn't going to believe this either.'

If Mimi didn't want to talk about what was wrong and she had gotten her favor, Sami was uninterested in wasting another second talking to her. She had important business to attend to—finding out what her horny sister and soon to be brother-in-law were doing with her and Lucas' bodies.

"Well, Mimi, I'd love to stay and chat but it's late and I should go. I'll give you a call later on and we'll talk okay?" Sami then slammed the phone down and headed out the door where Lucas was waiting.

"What was that about," he asked.

"It was just Mimi. I didn't want to give her any time to figure out something was wrong so I had to get her off the phone quickly. Come on, let's go. We need to get to my place before those two horn-balls do various debaucheries with our bodies." She pulled him out the door and out the building to find Philip's car.

"Sami, not that I'm not disturbed at the idea of … I can't even say it. But it's not like we haven't done a few debaucheries ourselves." They had found Philip's car and both had gotten inside with seatbelts strapped.

"Shut up and drive." Sami knew Lucas had a point but she wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction of knowing he was right.

**Author's Note: Thanks for sticking with me and this story--Chapter 12 is in edit mode. I just wanted to give the proper credit for Lucas' line about breaking Philip's legs even if they were his. It comes from an episode of Farscape, one of the best quality science fiction television shows ever created in my opinion. In the episode "Out of Their Minds," most of the crew switched bodies due to a technological accident (I'll spare you the details). One of the characters was caught "exploring" their new body and hilarity ensued. Maybe I was subconsciously thinking about that episode when I dreamed this story up.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: I was a busy little beaver today. I hope you enjoy the extra chapter. **

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Lucas and Sami began making a mad dash to their apartment building fearing irreparable harm if they didn't swiftly confront their siblings and reclaim their identities. They needn't have worried since, at the moment, Philip and Belle were taking very good care of their bodies.

"Damn," Lucas said as he looked at the instrument panel of Philip's car.

"What is it," Sami asked looking over to see what was wrong.

"My dumbass of a brother is driving around on an empty tank of gas. I thought he would have more sense than that."

"Geez, calm down Lucas. Maybe he was going to fill it up in the morning."

"Whatever, I don't care what he was thinking. It's mighty inconvenient right now for us." He pulled into one of Salem's 24 hour shopping centers and lined the car up to one of the gas pumps.

"Lucas, do we have to get gas now? It's 1:00 in the morning and we're only going like 10 minutes away." Lucas could be so anal sometimes. It was really irritating at times like these.

"It'll only take a minute and you never know what could happen. I'm not taking any chances, especially when I'm trying to get my body back." Lucas got out of the car and went to pump the gas. Sami got out as well to keep him company. Then the worst possible thing that she could have imagined happened.

Lucas was standing there while the gas poured into the tank. He saw Sami get out of the car and lean against it as they waited for the tank to fill. All of a sudden he saw her face contort with horror in reaction to something behind him.

Lucas felt his heart drop to his knees as he saw his mother, Kate Roberts, emerge from the gas station grocery store holding a little bag in one hand and an expensive purse in the other. 'This is not good. Oh Lord this is not good.'

He quickly ran over to the other side of the car and instinctively attempted to quash whatever fireworks were sure to erupt between the two women. Even if it was Belle's body, there was no way Sami would be able to tolerate Kate's presence within 3 feet of her.

'Maybe she won't even notice us,' but Lucas dismissed that as wishful thinking and was rewarded when Kate spotted his car and began walking toward them with a smile on her face. He knew his only chance outside of pushing Sami in the car and speeding away was to calm Sami down so she wouldn't do anything stupid.

Kate was still quite a ways away so she wasn't able to hear what 'Philip' was saying in 'Belle's' ear. "Okay Sami, you have got to remember that right now, you are Belle and Kate likes Belle. She won't say anything mean to you so there is no need for you to say any of your usual remarks about my mother right now."

Sami was going to let Lucas ramble on in panic because frankly it was funny to see him so stressed out. Unfortunately, he was also really irritating her by assuming that she couldn't handle Kate Roberts. She had promised to be nicer to his mother, what else did he want from her—a contract signed in blood? She tried to be angry at him for not having faith in her but she realized that she hadn't given him much reason to as of late. Taking pity on him, she decided to let him off the hook and cut off his incessant babble.

Sami patted him on the cheek. "Lucas, Lucas, Lucas. Relax, honey. Everything will be fine." Kate had almost reached their car by now. "Trust me, this will be fun."

**Meanwhile, back at Sami's apartment...**

Philip and Belle were lying in a pool of bliss as they contemplated what they had just done with each other. Sure, it had been in their siblings bodies but that didn't make it any less special—or spectacular.

Philip was the first to break the silence. "Are you alright, Belle?" he asked stroking the side of her face as they both tried to catch their breath. They were laying side to side, Belle on her back and Philip on his side.

Belle's response was only a smile and a kiss to his palm as she tenderly caressed his arm. It had been worlds better than she imagined it would be. They had both been shy at first with Philip taking the lead. But by the end, they were equals—both pleasuring each other beyond the limits of their imagination.

Belle was the next to speak as she asked softly, "Do you think Lucas and Sami will be able to tell? I hope they won't be mad as us." She didn't want to think about what Sami would do to them if she thought they had done something wrong—although she was one to talk.

Philip didn't want to think about it either so he dodged the question. "Speaking of which, what do you think happened to them? I figured they would have called by now."

Belle giggled, "Are you talking about Sami and Lucas? Those two are the most impulsive people I know. If they're not still arguing about something back at our place, they're probably headed over here right now."

Philip chuckled and looked back over at Belle not really wanting to let her go. In the moonlight, he couldn't even tell it was Sami since her and Belle's features were so similar. He could imagine Belle lying next to him right now. "Maybe we should call my mom and send her over for a surprise visit. That would keep them busy for a while."

Belle lightly smacked Philip on the arm. "Philip, that's cruel even for you. Besides, I want to have a nice, undamaged body to go back to which isn't a guarantee when you stick Sami in a room with your mother." Philip laughed as he remembered how he and Lucas had to pull Kate and Sami off of each other in the hospital chapel.

He hugged Belle even closer into his embrace. Whatever you might say about either Lucas or Sami physically, they were an awfully compatible match. Their bodies fit like a hand in a glove. "Well, since we can't plan on a surprise run-in with my mother, we should make ourselves decent then," Philip said with a touch of sadness.

Belle didn't want to break their magical spell either. "I know we should." It didn't matter that she was currently in her sister's body, she would be content to lay here forever with Philip. They knew they needed to get ready to face their siblings who would be upon them any minute now but neither moved as they basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

**Back at the gas station...**

"Philip sweetie," Kate said giving him a kiss on the cheek. "What are you two doing here so late at night?" Lucas thought his best strategy was to keep his mother distracted and not let Sami get a word in edgewise.

"I could ask you the same question, Mom. What's so important that you have to haul yourself to a gas station in the middle of the night?"

Sami knew Lucas was trying to shut her out of the conversation for fear of her saying something suspicious. But if she was going to be stuck in Belle's goody-goody body, she was going to have a little fun with it. Lord knows Belle was probably returning the favor with Philip right now.

Sami cut off Kate's response and grabbed the first opportunity to get into the conversation. "Philip, you are so clueless. Kate, I too have spent many lonely nights worrying about all the mistakes I've made in my sad, pathetic sham of a life that I can recognize an ice cream run when I see it." Sami gave extra emphasis to the words 'lonely,' 'sad,' and 'pathetic' for good measure.

Although it wasn't really a good thing, Sami recognized that little bag as holding the key to a satisfying evening of self-pity and loneliness. 'I bet there's half a gallon of rocky road in there. Probably Hagan Daas—no wait, she wouldn't be that bourgeoisie in the privacy of her own coven. That cheap whore probably bought the generic brand.' The only real question was where on her broomstick that little bag was going to fit.

Lucas sent her a warning glance and tried to divert the conversation back to safer ground. "'Belle,'" he said for emphasis, "and I were just going out for a midnight snack and decided to fill up the tank." He looked at the suit she was wearing and frowned. "I hope you weren't coming from the office." He could tell by her slightly guilty look that she had been. "Mom, you work entirely too much. You need to start taking better care of yourself." Of course, Lucas couldn't have known that her bright red blush and guilty expression was more about what she had been doing with John Black earlier. They had been 'working' alright.

Kate didn't want to think about that so she directed her attention back to Belle. She was such a sweet girl and perfect for Philip. Her sister, on the other hand was another story entirely. "Belle, honey, don't be so hard on yourself." Coming from Belle, she didn't even think to take offense at Sami's words. "You shouldn't be spending any more sad or lonely nights worrying about Shawn. You may have made a few mistakes in the relationship but it was no reason for him to walk out on you. Don't you spend another second worrying about it." She then went about her usual past time of meddling in her sons' lives. "I'm sure Philip is doing a good job of taking your mind off of him and on to...better things." She didn't want to be too obvious or Philip would just whine to her about it later.

'Aha!' Sami thought. 'I knew that little witch was force-feeding Philip down Belle's throat. I can think of a few things I'd like to ram down her throat right now. I can't believe how much she lectured Lucas about not getting involved with the daughter of a murderer and now she's practically knitting booties for Belle and Philip.'

Lucas could tell that Sami was pissed and she was about to explode with something that could only end badly for all involved. "Hey, Belle, we were going to get some snacks right? I'm really thirsty now. Would you mind running in and getting me a Coke while I wait for the gas?" He needed to get her away from his mother ASAP.

Sami looked over at Lucas with a hint of fire in her innocent little eyes. "If you're so thirsty get your own Coke. I'm trying to talk to Kate."

Kate couldn't tell what was going on between them. However, it looked pretty intimate so she was all for it. "Yes Philip, Belle can keep an eye on the car. You go in and get some snacks." Maybe she could push things further along without Philip breathing down her neck.

Lucas threw his hands up in defeat and turned to leave the two women alone. He sent Sami a warning glare and whispered in here ear, "remember your promise."

Sami just smiled at him as he slowly walked towards the store. "Don't forget the M&M's she yelled out."

But Sami wasn't distracted for long as she turned back to the nosey bitch in front of her. Let the games begin.

"So Kate, did you have a good time earlier tonight at the Penthouse Grill?" Sami asked in her most innocent Belle voice. She saw Kate visibly flinch as she must be recalling the big event that had happened there.

Kate couldn't care two licks about Sami or badmouthing her in public despite her promise to Lucas but she had enough sense not to go there with Sami's sister. "Well, it certainly was...eventful." She tried to switch to a safer topic of conversation—like work.

"So how is that project going that you and Philip are working on?"

"Oh, it's going so well but I'm really worried about how busy I'll be with work and school and now I get to design Sami's wedding dress. I bet it'll be so wonderful to see her walking down that aisle in a beautiful dress made just for her. I know Lucas is going to love it." Sami tried to lay it on thick to see how far over the edge she could push Kate.

"It's going to be so romantic. It'll be a big church wedding with lots of flowers and lace. Oh, and I bet Will is going to be so happy to see his parents so much in love." She could tell that Kate was starting to get physically ill at the thought. "I can just picture Lucas and Sami standing there at the alter and committing their ENTIRE lives to each other in front of God and all their friends and family.

Kate grunted and said under her breath, "Like that beast has any friends."

"What was that Kate?" Sami said knowing full well what she had heard.

"Nothing, dear. I was thinking about, um, how that sounds like an awful lot of work and maybe you shouldn't take on so much."

"Oh no, Kate, I wouldn't think of missing a thing." She went on describing her and Lucas' future wedding knowing that it was eating Kate alive. "I want to be right there when Sami and Lucas pledge to honor and obey and to stand by each other through sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, till death they do part. Personally, Sami didn't think there would be much obeying going on in her and Lucas' relationship from either of them and the first death would probably be Kate's right after the wedding.

Kate was shuffling and fidgeting uncontrollably now. She had finally reached her limit. "You know, Belle, what's taking Philip so long? Did he buy out the whole store?" She turned around to look for Philip as she tried to calm herself down from that nightmare Belle just described. She knew Belle was only excited for her sister, Lord knows why, but it was just too much for her. She was sure if Sami were here right now, she probably would have said the same thing to her but in that smug, hateful little tone of hers.

Luckily Lucas/Philip was just returning with their groceries and he quickly paid for the gas. He wanted to get out of there right now. He looked at the two women and he didn't see any blood but his mother was obviously pissed and Sami was looking way too smug, a look he recognized even on Belle's face.

He handed Sami the bag and ushered her back into the car. "Well, Mom, be safe leaving here tonight. We should all get out of here and back to our comfortable homes."

Sami wasn't through having her fun yet. She thought Lucas deserved some quality time with his mother too. She gave her best Belle pout and said, "Philip, you got the wrong kind."

Lucas looked at Sami like he was going to murder her. "What's your problem now," he said with irritation.

"Can't you do anything right? You know I like the almond M&M's. These are peanut."

Lucas rolled his eyes and pushed her back towards her side of the car. "They didn't have almond so I got another nut." What was she doing? They needed to get out of here.

Not deterred in the least, Sami said, "No, if they don't have almond, then you get crispy which is my next favorite. I have to go back inside now and get the right ones."

Lucas grabbed her arm. "No it's not, peanut is your next favorite." He felt ludicrous standing here arguing about her favorite candy. "What does it matter anyway, just eat them. We have to go."

Sami was really having fun now. "No Philip, I want the crispy kind," she whined. "I don't want the peanut ones. Give me your wallet."

"No way! I already got you some M&M's and if you want the crunchy kind or whatever then you go get them." He knew that he was supposed to be convincing his mother that he was Philip but Sami was pushing every one of his buttons right now.

Kate was just looking back and forth between the two of them with amusement. They were just so cute. They were already starting to act like a couple—having domestic little arguments over silly things. Lucas and Sami did it all the time but it just irritated the Hell out of her. But it was really endearing when her other son and Belle did it.

Sami looked over at Kate and realized that the wench found the whole exchange cute and amusing, probably because she wanted Philip and Belle together so badly. 'She's such a fucking hypocrite,' Sami thought.

She focused her attention back to Lucas. "Philip," she drawled out in a sugary sweet voice. "My purse is in the car. It'll only take a minute." With that, she grabbed his wallet out of his hand before he even knew what happened and quickly strolled over to the store.

'I'm going to get her for this,' Lucas thought almost red with annoyance. But he had an overbearing mother to deal with at the moment. He turned his head back to her and displayed his most charming smile.

"Mom, I meant it about getting you safely home. He looked around for her car and when he spotted it, he grabbed her arm and quickly walked her to the door.

"Wait a minute, honey." She knew he didn't want to hear any more of her prodding about pursuing Belle but she knew what was best for her sons and he needed some encouragement at the moment. "It looks like you and Belle are doing just fine. Did anything happen tonight that I should know about?"

Lucas was constantly amazed at just how nosey his mother was. "Mom, you know that's none of your business. For the last time, just let me handle this situation."

"I know honey, I just wanted to encourage you and give you some support. Things will be just how you want them really soon. Now all we have to do is hope that shrew your brother proposed to screws things up with him quickly so he can go on with his life."

Lucas didn't want to take the bait but he was already stressed and annoyed over both Sami and his mother. "Mom, would you please just get over it. Lucas loves Sami, do you hear me." Kate was shaking her head back and forth in disbelief. He repeated himself to get the point across—besides, it felt good to say. "Again, Lucas. Loves. Sami. And she loves him too, you know she does. She makes him happy and if you keep this up—all this badmouthing and negativity--you are going to lose him forever. "

Kate stared up at her son in shock 'Now he's sounding just like Lucas, lucky for me,' she thought sarcastically. She patted Philip's cheek and in her favorite condescending tone told him, "Baby, you'll understand when you have children."

Now Lucas was pissed. "I would never do that to my son!" Lucas caught himself quickly. "I mean when I have one." Lucas had been thinking of Will but Kate didn't know that. She just kept looking at him like she was talking to a small child so he decided to switch gears.

"I know. Why don't you work on your relationship with Rex? He was certainly asking for it earlier and I think he ought to get a taste of what it's like to have you meddling in his life—if he even has one outside of Mimi that is."

"Don't get smart with me Philip." She was starting to get a headache. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm just going to go home like you said." She looked past his shoulder and saw Belle slowly sauntering out of the store munching on what she assumed were some crispy M&M's. "Look, there's Belle. You don't want to keep her waiting do you?"

Actually, he wasn't in any hurry considering how irritated he was with her at the moment but he recalled that they had more pressing concerns to deal with and the night wasn't even half-way over. "Okay Mom, drive safe," he said as he pushed her car door closed behind her and headed back over to Philip's car. Sami was already sitting in the passenger seat. Innocently eating a bag of peanut M&M's.

"I knew you wanted the peanut ones! You are such a drama queen."

"Of course you knew Lucas. But I thought you deserved a little quality time with Mommie-Dearest just like I had," she replied offering him some of her M&M's. He angrily took the handful and pulled away from the gas station as he popped them in his mouth.

When they made it to their apartment, Sami realized that she didn't have any keys to get into her place. Fortunately, Philip had an extra key to Lucas' apartment with him.

They stepped into Lucas' dark apartment and after a quick search, they realized no one was there or had been there. Sami sighed as she flopped down on his couch. "I guess we just knock and hope they're there. It kind of takes away the fun element of surprise if they are in there fornicating with our bodies."

Lucas gave her a saucy grin and said, "Well, Sami, we do plenty of fornicating on our own. God forbid we deny them that pleasure while they're in our bodies."

"What are you talking about, Lucas? Doesn't it gross you out a little? I mean, I love you and I know it's you in Philip's body but the thought of having sex right now is just completely creepy."

Lucas nodded in agreement, especially when he thought back to his grand escape plan from Belle. "I'm just saying that you've got to admit that we're pretty good together." He smirked at her lasciviously. "We're like a well-lubricated machine, the two of us. We could do instructional videos about how to be good in bed."

"You mean porn?" Sami said pointedly.

"Whatever tickles your pickle," Lucas replied waggling his eyebrows and winking at her.

Sami just rolled her eyes at him. "You are so juvenile sometimes Lucas."

"Why, for suggesting that we are photogenic and talented in bed and that we could teach the world a thing or two about being a hot, super-couple?" He stood behind her as she sat on the couch and leaned down to whisper in her ear. It was much easier to talk to her as Sami like this. "Maybe, when we're feeling more like ourselves, we could get a camcorder and try it out. Wouldn't that be exciting?" he said nibbling a little on her ear.

Even though she knew he was Philip, it was much easier to think of him as Lucas when she wasn't looking directly at him. So when he nibbled on her ear, she couldn't help but react positively to his touch. "Leave it to you to drag your mind through the gutter when we're in the midst of a serious situation." Still she grabbed his cheek in her hand from where he stood behind her and held his face against hers. "We still have to find those two lovebirds and if they're not in my apartment then we're screwed."

Lucas bit his tongue at her choice of words but finally stood up and turned towards Will's room looking deep in thought. He went in and after a minute he came back into the living room grinning and dangling a set of keys.

"I told Will to leave his housekeys before leaving for camp. I didn't want him to lose them out there."

Sami grinned back showing him that she was ready to put things into action. "Good job, General," Sami said standing up. "Shall we go pay ourselves a little surprise visit?"

**Another Author's Note: I just randomly remembered an episode of another television show that might have inspired my story. Back in the mid- to late 90's there was a show called Mortal Kombat: Conquest based on the video game. Why I was watching, this, I have no idea but, as an aside, the show starred Kristanna Locken, the latest version of Terminator. Anyway, in one episode, these beings took over two characters' bodies and had lots of sex with each other much to these characters horror. Of course, it was all part of the plot since those characters had major sexual tension so it was all in good, not so clean fun. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Hi again! Sorry for the delay—you know, life happens. I wrote this in separate segments so it's not as smooth as I'd like but I need to let it go. I'll just blame it on my cat who insists on laying across my keyboard while I type. Kayla and Katy, you've inspired me to explore the sordid tale of Lumi sextape adventures. It's still in the conception stage but I'll probably start it after I finish this story. Thanks for the feedback!**

Lucas and Sami unlocked the door and walked in not sure what to expect. They had joked about Philip and Belle 'abusing' their bodies but, in truth, they were hoping for something far more innocent as a reason for their lack of contact.

"Maybe they're sleeping," Lucas said in a hushed tone as if that were a given. But all the lights in the apartment were off and the only illumination came from the moonlight spilling in through the windows. Will's door stood ajar but Sami's bedroom door was closed.

Sami didn't look convinced. "Well, if they're in there, sleeping or otherwise, that might explain why they didn't answer the phone. Sometimes you can't hear the phone ringing out here if the door is closed and I just remembered that I turned the ringer off on the bedroom phone."

"Why did you turn your ringer off? You might miss an important call—like Will calling you from camp or something," Lucas said eyeing her warily.

Sami didn't quite appreciate his accusatory tone or his timing in discussing the matter but dismissed his comment with an annoyed wave of the hand. "I don't remember. I was probably taking a nap and those damn telemarketer people kept calling. Take a pill, Lucas. You know Will would just call my cell phone and I can always hear that.

Lucas just rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, I don't think anybody could miss the cell phone version of 'Get Your Freak On.' It's real classy."

"I'm glad we agree," Sami said while still focusing on the closed door. "Well, Lucas, it's now or never. Let's check it out."

They crept towards the closed door and opened it slowly and quietly. They saw two shadowy forms laying motionless on the bed. It looked like they were holding each other as they lay there and under less bizarre circumstances the scene would have been cute and touching.

"I told you they were asleep...thank God," Lucas said poking Sami in the ribs for good measure.

Sami scrutinized the two forms laying in her bed looking comfortable and content. "Asleep my ass," Sami said with growing irritation. "Unfortunately for them, I have an alarm clock named Sami on hand." She briskly flipped the light switch on much to the surprise of the bed's two occupants.

Philip and Belle squinted and covered their eyes at the sudden illumination in the room. "What's going on," Philip drawled. Still unaware of their two visitors, an equally groggy Belle moved her hands from her eyes in an attempt to orient herself to her unfamiliar surroundings.

"Philip, we must have dozed up. We have to get up before Sami and Lucas get over here." Belle rolled over out of Philip's embrace and attempted to retrieve her negligee at the end of the bed. "They can't find out that we—" She tugged on the strap but looked up in sleepy confusion when it did not seem to budge. Only then did she notice the two newest occupants of the room—one standing by the door with his jaw to the floor and one towering over her holding the other end of her nightgown. "Oh shit."

Lucas rubbed his eyes in disbelief at the scene in front of him. He was looking at himself—or more precisely, his brother Philip inhabiting his body—staring up at him looking sleepy, disheveled and clearly satiated. 'Sami,' a role currently being played by Belle, was leaning over towards the foot of the bed baring, well, almost everything. She was attempting to retrieve her nightgown which Sami currently had a hold of as she glowered down at the two lovebirds residing in their bodies. Try as he might, he was not able to pick his bottom lip from off the floor. Before, Lucas figured that even if Philip and Belle had fooled around in his and Sami's bodies, he would give them the benefit of the doubt and use all of his powers of denial to ignore the idea all together. However, with Belle lying naked across the bed and his brother equally unclothed from what he could tell, there would be no riding that Egyptian river any time soon.

Philip and Belle could do nothing but stare back at Lucas and Sami in shock. The whole scene was just too surreal. They were all looking at each other like they were having some kind of out of body experience from Hell. It was like looking at some strange possessed version of themselves. They knew they were looking at their bodies but it was clear that something was definitely off. You could tell by the way that Lucas was standing in Philip's body and the look of panic and fear that Belle projected on Sami's face. There was no sign of the usual cockiness that Lucas so often exuded in his body language and Belle's body looked nothing less than predatory as Sami engaged in an uncontested tug-of-war with the negligee. There were really no adequate words to describe the gravity and reality of their bizarre situation.

With Belle distracted and in shock, Sami was able to snag the negligee out of her hands and step back to assess the situation. 'Ok, this is weird,' Sami thought. She was certainly used to seeing herself naked and she was rapidly becoming used to (and delighted to) seeing Lucas naked. She was also looking forward to seeing them naked together on a regular basis. But seeing what was technically her and Lucas' bodies, naked and laying in bed together knowing that it was Philip and Belle rattling around in there was kind of icky. If the look on Lucas' face—now Philip's face—was any indication, he felt the same way she did. As for Philip and Belle, she couldn't tell if their looks of horror were due to seeing their own bodies standing in front of them or from the embarrassment of getting caught with their pants down. At the moment she didn't really care which it was. They had real problems to deal with and since everyone else was conveniently useless right now, that left her to get things started—as usual.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here boys and girls?" Sami slung the negligee onto her shoulder and watched as Philip and Belle tried to cover themselves. "Oh, don't cover up on account of us. Why bother at this point. It's not like there's anything on display that Lucas and I haven't seen. And it's not like we haven't done what you two were obviously doing in our bodies." Sami knew they had important things to discuss but she couldn't let those two get away with doing what they were doing without a little heckling and ridicule.

Neither Philip nor Belle could read where Sami was going. Her body language and tone made it seem like she was about to completely lose it but her words suggested that she was going to get her money's worth of teasing and shaming them. Lucas was equally clueless. He and Sami hadn't actually considered what they would do if they found Belle and Philip in a compromising position. Of course, given Sami's impulsive nature, anything was bound to happen. Normally, he would try to mitigate the damage when it came to Sami's temper but he was kind of curious himself as to what she was going to do about the two fornicators in front of him.

"I cannot believe that you two actually...I can't even say it." Sami looked away from them in disgust. "You actually did THAT in our bodies!" Sami just shook her head and crossed her arms indicating that a lecture was sure to come. "To think that Lucas and I rushed over here, risking life and limb to make sure you two were alright. We wanted to be good older siblings for you. All we could think about was how scared and confused you'd be and we spent the entire time getting over here to figure out what was wrong."

Lucas stared at Sami with a questioning look on his face. He certainly didn't remember it like that. He remembered Sami flipping out, running into his mother and discussing the virtues of a lucrative career change into porn but nothing about rushing over to care for their siblings. The only time he could recall them being concerned about how Belle and Philip were reacting was when he was trying to figure out if Philip was stealing from his cookie jar and of course, figuring out if Philip and Belle were having sex in their bodies—the latter being confirmed. Sami's expression, even in Belle's body implored him to play along. 'Why not,' he thought. 'This could be a good one.'

"Yeah, we were really worried about you guys," Lucas added weakly, not entirely sure where Sami was going with this. A guilt trip was definitely on the menu but it was anyone's guess how far Sami would take it. Sami glanced back over to him and he was fairly sure that he should let her take it from here and shut up.

Belle and Philip were racking their brains thinking of some dignified way to save themselves from the wrath of Sami. Of course at this point, what was there to say really? They were busted and they knew it. It didn't stop them from trying to give an explanation though even if Sami looked like a madwomen in Belle's body.

"You guys, we are so sorry! Say you're sorry Philip, hurry," Belle blurted out in a panic while nudging Philip with her elbow.

"Uh, yeah sorry. We were just—"

"We didn't mean anything by it...I-I-I mean we did mean something by it but we didn't want to hurt you guys or anything. We were just—"

"Oh, I know what you two were doing," Sami spat out looking every bit as skeptical as before. "Unlike the two of you, Lucas and I are experts at what you two were doing with each other." Philip thought maybe he was being paranoid but he sensed that Sami had directed that comment at him. "In Lucas' case, he's a seasoned veteran."

"Hey, should I be offended by that?" Lucas questioned.

Sami gave Lucas a placating look clearly meant to patronize him. "Of course not, baby. I just meant that you know what you're doing."

Lucas didn't look convinced. "Yeah, right. I'll remember you said that sweetie."

Hoping to score points with Lucas, Philip said, "You should have heard what she said about you earlier—" Given the murderous look on Sami's face, it was probably the wrong time for Philip to pipe in.

"Philip, I don't think it's a good idea for you to talk right now. But since you brought it up, maybe you'd like to give Lucas a play-by-play of what you were doing while in his body, hmm?" Sami re-crossed her arms and looked at Philip expectantly. Lucas donned the same stance clearly interested in his little brother's version of the events. "That's what I thought." Sami said smugly in response to Philip's silence and the blush that had crawled over his lowered head. Belle looked back and forth among them in confusion.

"You know what the worse thing about all of this is? The thing that is the most disgusting of all? Do you want to know, kids?" Sami interpreted their silence as a sign to continue. "The worst part is that everything is tainted! Absolutely ruined!" Sami then looked over to Lucas practically in tears. "I'm sorry, Lucas, there's no way around this. They've ruined everything."

Lucas was trying to play along but he had no idea what Sami was talking about. He gave her a confused look trying to be subtle for the benefit of their counterparts. Sami just winked at him and continued with the show.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Philip and Belle had no idea what Sami was talking about but it sounded really bad. Belle was thinking that as impossible as it sounded, maybe Lucas and Sami had been saving themselves for their wedding. That seemed unlikely but Sami tended to be pretty old-fashioned when it came to wedding traditions. She didn't think that Lucas would be willing to hold out given what she had heard about him. But then again, Lucas was full of surprises and might have agreed if it was what Sami wanted.

Philip was thinking along the lines of what every guy worries about after making love to a girl. Maybe Sami and Lucas were afraid that Philip had gotten Belle pregnant in their bodies. That would be one confusing custody battle. He could just imagine what his lawyer would argue in that one. 'I'm sorry your Honor but since Ms. Black and Mr. Kiriakis were in Ms. Brady and Mr. Roberts' bodies when the child was conceived, they must insist that the child be put in their custody. I know there's no precedent for these circumstances seeing as there are no reliable reports of body switching but we believe the case law supports our position.' He wasn't ready to be a father. He was too young. He and Belle had so much living to do. But if that's what it came down to, he would support Belle in whatever she—wait, he was getting a little ahead of himself. It's probably best to focus on why Sami's about to spit fire right in their faces whether those faces belonged to her and Lucas or not.

"Look at them Lucas. They have no clue what they've done. They're just sitting there like two clueless little peas in a pod. Well, let me tell you what you two have done—how you've ruined things."

'Yeah, tell them Sami. I'm more than a little curious myself,' Lucas thought. He had no idea why Sami was so pissed and from the looks on Philip and Belle's face they didn't have a clue either. The only difference was while those two were openly dreading what was coming next, Lucas was silently trying to hold back his amusement at seeing them so anxious. For better or for worse, Sami knows how to strike fear and anxiety in the minds and hearts of all those she encounters. 'Welcome to my world. You two better grab a hold of something before Hurricane Sami hits. Well, actually, she's probably just a tropical storm right now, truth be told.'

Sami chuckled inwardly as she faux-glared at Philip and Belle. It was quite an amusing effect seeing what she knew was Philip and Belle's embarrassed yet severely apprehensive expressions painted on her and Lucas' faces. But she had probably strung them along enough for one night and thought she should get to the punchline before they peed on themselves in fear. That thought almost made her break out in giggles considering what she had in mind.

"What did we ruin Sami. Whatever it is, we'll try to make it right. We didn't mean to mess anything up," Belle said practically in tears.

Philip looked close to a tear or two himself. "Please, you guys have to forgive us. We're really sorry. We were just weak and this has been such a crazy night for us—things just got out of control." He looked over to Lucas trying to find some sign of forgiveness or a hint at what Sami would do next. Lucas just shook his head playing along with Sami's plan.

Sami walked over to Lucas and grabbed his hand. She gave him her most serious expression and said, "Lucas, I know we can fix what they've done to us—what they've done in OUR bodies," she emphasized.

"We'll do our best, baby, no matter how hard it is." Lucas replied as he smiled at her playfully and waited for the inevitable.

Sami turned back to the two naked replicas of themselves and sat at the very end of the bed. "I know you didn't think about it when you started...this," she said waving her finger back and forth between them. "Maybe this will be a lesson for you two later on. I want you to remember what you've done here—what you've ruined. But I also expect you to do whatever you can to fix it."

"Whatever you want Sami, Philip and I will do it. We promise. Just tell us what we can do to fix things."

Sami stood back up, facing away from them and towards her loving fiancée. "Lucas, these two have completely ruined them. In their haste and youthful lust, they didn't think of the consequences."

She turned back to fix her stare on Philip and Belle deciding to let them out of their misery. "You two have completely ruined our sheets. Those were my favorite ones! Now I'm not going to be able to use them without thinking about what the two of you were doing on them. Not to mention the obvious fact that I'm sure you soiled them with your little escapades." Sami smirked at her younger sister and future brother-in-law seeming quite satisfied with herself for striking the fear of God into them over a set of sheets.

Ruined her sheets! Lucas burst out laughing thinking about the looks of fear that adorned Philip and Belle's faces as they considered what Sami was so angry about. That was a good one—definitely worth playing along.

Ruined her sheets! Philip was going to kill her! Here he thought they had really offended them by doing some pretty provocative things in their bodies. Some people would probably be upset about that. Normal people would be upset about that but he should have known something was amiss considering Crazy Sami and her tricks.

Ruined her sheets! Belle let out a huge sigh of relief as she slowly realized that she would not be dying by her sister's hand anytime soon. But she couldn't ensure the same thing as thoughts of murdering her sister ran through her mind. Philip looked like he was thinking along those lines as well.

Sami couldn't hold back her giggles as fear was replaced by anger from the two people in front of her. "You two ruined my sheets," Sami said matter-of-factly, as if she had not just put on a show implying that the end of her world was at hand because of Belle and Philip's actions. "I expect you two to fix this. I want those sheets washed—several times, please—pressed and folded. Maybe in a few years I'll have forgotten what took place on them."

Philip was the first to speak up. "I cannot believe you just put us through the ringer over your damned sheets! We thought we had really done something wrong." He clearly wanted to stand up and confront Sami but that was a little difficult considering he was naked underneath the sheets. Not that he was hiding anything Sami hadn't seen before and was happy to see again.

Both Sami and Lucas were lost in peals of laughter which was not appreciated by their younger siblings. "Excuse me but you two just had sex with each other while in our bodies. You are currently laying in Sami's bed naked. You obviously had no intention of telling us about your little roll in the hay but, unfortunately, you two were so busted. I don't think you're in any position to take the moral high ground."

"Besides," Sami chimed in between chuckles, "you did ruin my sheets. Do you know how expensive those were? Did you even think about that before you soiled them with your love juices—actually, our love juices." Sami and Lucas again burst into laughter at that.

Belle took the opportunity to grab the negligee from Sami's shoulder and put it on. "It's not like you two aren't always going at it on your precious sheets," Belle replied angrily slipping the nightgown over her head and looking for the matching robe.

"Hey, we've been fornicating on the couch thank you very much," Sami said. "I had just changed those sheets last night—they're my favorites and since I was mad at Lucas at the time, I didn't have to worry about them getting dirty.

"Well, too bad the couch doesn't have a plastic cover. I'm never going to be able to sit on that thing again without cringing." Philip said while grabbing his clothes from the floor.

"I don't know, Philip. I thought you might have a nice memory or two from that couch," Sami said as she winked at him saucily. Philip turned bright red again and tried to divert his attention from the annoyed gaze that Lucas was giving him.

Sensing that Belle was still upset over her prank, Sami walked over to her side of the bed and gave her a little hug. "I'm sorry I scared you Belle but you have to admit that this is a bit shocking for me and Lucas." Belle nodded reluctantly. She was still a little mad at Sami but she figured she should be grateful that things hadn't turned out worse. "I guess, in a way I should be strangely flattered that your first time was in my body. Are you okay?" Sami asked with a concerned expression on her face.

Belle looked into her own face and knew that Sami was sincerely concerned about her and was glad for it. She wasn't always the best sister to Sami since they were both usually off in their own world caught up in their own drama. But she could never doubt that Sami was a wonderful, supportive sister to her and would do anything for her out of sisterly love. Althought the situation was bizarre to say the least, she still had the overwhelming urge to share her newfound experience with someone and at the moment, Sami was the only person who could possibly believe it and understand. Belle's expression softened when she thought about what she and Philip had done. Sami smiled at the joy on her face. Her anger momentarily forgotten, Belle couldn't help but gush over the experience. "It was so wonderful Sami. I know that it wasn't exactly normal but it wasn't like it was you and Lucas. There was only Philip and I and our love for each other. It was so special—so much better than I ever imagined." Belle closed her eyes thinking back on the sensations that Philip had elicited in her. She leaned into Sami's embrace and sighed.

"Oh Belle, then I'm glad for you. If it's what you wanted then I know it was special." She knew that Philip loved and cared about Belle despite his apparent willingness to make out with her not an hour before while in his brother's body. He was just a man after all.

While the sisters were bonding, Lucas thought he'd calm the fire of anger burning in his brother at the moment. "Hey, Philip, don't worry about Sami. You know how she is . . . and you have to admit, that was pretty funny." He couldn't help it when he started laughing again. "You should have seen the look on your faces. Classic!"

"Well, I'm glad you two were so amused at our expense." Philip was actually more embarrassed than mad. He knew that Lucas and Sami could have been a hell of a lot harder on them.

"Anytime bro," Lucas said chuckling. As Philip sat on the end of the bed, Lucas glanced over at Belle and Sami for a moment. "It looks like things are working out with you and Belle. I'm sure Mom will be pleased," Lucas said thinking about his earlier exchange with their meddling mother.

Philip smiled as he thought of being together with Belle. "Yeah, well, I'd appreciate if you'd keep this under radar with Mom. I'm not in the mood to deal with her right now."

"Hey, no problem. It's cool. One thing though." Lucas figured he ought to cover all of his bases, just in case. "Sami told me about what happened with you two." Philip looked up and quickly glanced back at Sami who wasn't paying him a bit of attention. "I don't have to worry about you trying to make time with my lady, do I?" Lucas smirked at Philip's panic as he unsuccessfully tried to come up with something to say. "Don't worry about it Philip, I trust that I won't have any concerns in the future. Besides, I know better than anyone how convincing she can be." Lucas licked his lips as he looked over to towards the two women although Philip wasn't sure if he was focusing on Sami's physical or mental likeness at the moment. Either way, he thought it was better for him to keep quiet and let things go if Lucas was willing to.

"Okay boys, what do we do now. We've confirmed that we've somehow switched bodies but we've got to figure out how to get back. No offense Belle, but I'd really like to have my old body back."

"None taken, Sami. I wouldn't mind that so much myself. Although I have to admit, you've got a great body!"

"Thanks! I've been working out you know. Yours isn't so bad either, it would just take some getting used to for me."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Now I'm thinking of growing my hair out. And what do you wear, a C cup?" Belle asked lightly cupping her breasts. "I could get used to carrying these around."

"Me too," Philip said quietly. Apparently, he wasn't quiet enough for Lucas not to hear as he smacked his brother across the back of the head—hard. Sami playfully blew him a kiss and Belle viewed the whole exchange in confusion, clearly out of the loop.

"Watch it, little brother." Lucas said with a warning glare aimed at both Philip and Sami. "Listen ladies, this is nice and all and you can compare notes later but we seem to have a slight complication here that we need to deal with."

"Fine," Sami said. "What do you suggest, General."

"I don't know. I was just thinking that we needed to discuss it." Sami rolled her eyes at him.

"Look, we need to figure this thing out. What we do know is that Lucas and I switched bodies first and then you two followed about fifteen minutes after us."

"That sounds about right," Belle added. "How could this possibly happen though."

"Anything can happen in this town it seems," Lucas added sourly.

"Well, I'm not going to sit around and talk this thing to death. We need to do something about it—and I know just who to ask. Put some clothes on kids, we're taking a field trip." Sami walked towards the door to look for her car keys with Lucas, Philip and Belle in tow.

"Sami, we can't just go wandering over to someone's house in the middle of the night. And who in the world would believe any of this craziness. I don't even believe it and I'm standing right here in Philip's body." Lucas casually grabbed Sami's car keys from her hand and put them in his pocket while pulling out his own. "I don't think so, Sami. I'm driving." He chose to ignore the pout on her face. "Besides, with our luck, we'll run into somebody else that we know and I am not interested in a repeat performance of that little showdown with my mother."

Philip and Belle looked at the couple in surprise. "You ran into Kate?" Belle said incredulously. "In our bodies? Are there any injuries to my body that I should know about?" Belle asked as she looked at Sami accusingly. Sami looked back at her innocently and shrugged her shoulders.

"We'll tell you about it later but believe me Belle, the only risk of harm was coming from me when I was tempted to ring Sami's neck throughout the whole ordeal. Crunchy M&M's my ass!"

"Crispy M&M's you moron!" Sami replied impatiently. "Whatever, Lucas, she started it—as usual. And I was nothing but nice to her. I told her all about how excited I was about our wedding. It's not my fault that she's a bitter cow who would keel over before allowing herself to actually be happy for us."

"Sami, let's not go there. We have enough to worry about right now." He didn't want to fight with her again about picking fights with his mother. Besides, although he hated to admit it, his mother was being rather annoying. "So what's your grand plan for us?"

"Yeah, who the hell can help us, especially at this hour." Philip asked slipping on a shirt and a pair of shoes. Belle had also grabbed some clothes from Sami's room and was hastily getting dressed.

"Well, this is a strange situation and I think we should take it to an expert." Sami walked over to the door grabbing Lucas' arm as she went. Lucas barely had enough momentum to throw Philip his car keys before Sami pulled him out the door. "We need to go see Celeste right away," she said urgently like it was the most logical thing in the world.

"Celeste..." Philip, Lucas and Belle said together.

"Of course." Lucas replied.

"Good idea." Philip added.

"What are we waiting for?" Belle said while ushering everyone out the door.

Sami smiled at their enthusiasm. "Let's go figure out how to get our bodies back!"


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: My laptop/AOL has been acting a monkey the past few days so if I don't update for a week or so, you know why. I actually finished this chapter the other day but I couldn't get online to post it. Hopefully, I'll have my slightly less crappy desktop back by the end of the week. **

**Thanks Katy and Kayla for the reviews and the feedback. I appreciate you sticking with me and this crazy story. The sheets idea actually came from something a friend of mine once told me. She said that her main reason for not wanting to be intimate with her boyfriend was because she didn't want to mess up her nice Ralph Lauren sheets. I got a good laugh out of that and she did kinda have a point. **

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

Out of habit, Lucas decided to take his own car for their trip to see Celeste while Belle and Philip took the car Lucas had driven over earlier. They agreed to meet over at Celeste's place with neither couple approaching her until they had all arrived.

Sami strapped herself into Lucas' car in a huff irritated that he had insisted on driving. "Lucas, what is it with you and always insisting on driving everywhere. I know my car isn't as much of a swanky, chick-magnet as yours but it's gets me from point A to point B."

Lucas just rolled his eyes at her as he closed his door and put on his seatbelt. "Do you hear yourself, Sami? With your track record, it's a wonder the state lets you drive at all." He ignored her snicker as he had to adjust the seat back to accommodate Philip's bigger body. "It wasn't even a few months ago that you were in that accident. Remember colliding with John?" He remembered like it was yesterday the fear of finding Sami semi-conscious, hysterical and handcuffed to her steering wheel in the pouring rain. That turned out to only be the beginning of a horrible night. Sami had been hurt, Marlena had been revealed as the serial killer and his beloved Gran her latest victim. He was a bit overwhelmed with sadness thinking about the turn of events that day.

"Thanks for the reminder of that wonderful evening. I don't know which was more fun. Nearly being killed in a car accident with that jerk or nearly being killed when that jerk pushed my mother off of their balcony—"

"Sami, don't go there, okay. Not tonight." He could tell that the conversation was agitating Sami and it was working wonders on his already exasperated mood as well.

Sami knew it had been a horrible night for everyone. It had started all of the nonsense about her mother being the Salem Stalker which eventually led to her imprisonment and the tragedy of her death. Not to mention the fact that her mother's body was now missing without explanation. She glanced over at Lucas' suddenly sad expression and knew he was thinking about the death of his grandmother, the beloved Alice Horton, that had occurred that night. "You're the one who brought it up," Sami said weakly.

"No, I didn't." Lucas tried to lighten the mood by softly putting his hand on her knee and squeezing gently. "You brought it up with your whining about not driving." Neither one of them wanted to be having this conversation and they both knew it. "But I do apologize for mentioning something that brings back unpleasant memories for both of us."

Sami smiled over at Lucas and not for the first time, thought about how lucky she was to have him in her life. For a long time she had felt anything but lucky and it saddened her thinking about how much time they wasted hating each other. She covered his hand with her own and replied, "Not every memory from that night was unpleasant." Lucas glanced over at her questioningly as Sami looked ahead wistfully at the memory. "I recall only feeling safe and comforted when you stayed with me and held me in my bed that night. I remember falling asleep in your arms." Lucas smiled as well, bringing her hand up and caressing it with his lips in a soft kiss.

A sexy smirk appeared on Lucas' face as he thought back to that crazy night. He then gave her an expression of mock confusion. "It's a bit foggy but I think I sort of remember that. There was this blonde there and maybe a kid was around somewhere—" Lucas predicted that his comment would ensure a punch in the arm from his fiancée and Sami didn't disappoint him. It only made him laugh harder.

"Actually, now that I think a little harder about it, I seem to recall something about making you warm milk with honey, just like your grandmother used to make for you. I remember stroking your hair as you lay on my chest, driving me absolutely nuts. It took all of my willpower to behave myself." He then smiled evilly over at her. "I also remember that whopper of a kiss I slapped on you—right before all that madness began." He thought back to that hot kiss they shared before leaving for the hospital. He pictured her running her hands through his hair and down his bare chest before resting on his open shirt. He could still hear the little moans and whimpers she made before he pulled away. In that instant, he had wanted her more than he had wanted anything in his entire life. "You were so into it, even though you wouldn't admit it." He kept glancing over at her as he drove down the street. "Do you want to come clean now? I know you were having hot, steamy dreams about having your dirty little way with my body."

Sami's mouth dropped open at his challenge. "Ha! Fat chance! You must be thinking about all those fantasies you were having about me. You were always trying to get me to admit something when it was you lusting after my body."

"Hey, I'm man enough to admit it. I had a few impure thoughts about you over the past year. And lucky for you, I was also man enough to do something about it." It turned him on just thinking about all the erotic, Sami-induced fantasies he had had in the past. "So how about it? Are you ready to admit it now?"

"Forget about it." There was no way that Sami was going to give his ego the satisfaction of knowing that before they had gotten together, he had invaded her every erotic thought with his tasty sexiness.

So she wanted to play that game. "Oh, so when we were making out after Will had that nightmare about the tiger at the circus, that did nothing for you?" He knew that Sami had been effected by what was happening between them when they were kissing. He even remembered her zoning out and acting weird the next morning before they decided to go on the camping trip with Will.

"Didn't do a thing for me," Sami replied nonchalantly.

"What about that little tickle fight we had in your bed that one time, you know, when our mothers walked in on us? You didn't think about me then either."

"Nope."

"How about when we were all cuddled up in my sleeping bag on Will's camping trip?" Sami shook her head indifferently. She was unbelievable. They had been making eyes at each other every five minutes back then. Not to mention the fact that she had been moaning in her sleep that night and it didn't sound like the unpleasant kind of moaning to him. Then they had a cute little pillow fight after that. Ahh, such pleasant memories of courtship.

"Really, Lucas, I don't know where you get these crazy ideas." She never realized that Lucas had her so pegged. She couldn't help but recall all the wild fantasies she was having about her and Lucas around then—and how much they scared her.

"You are such a bad liar, Sami," Lucas said while shaking his head at her. "Besides the fact that I DO know you better than you know yourself, you totally admitted to being attracted to me after you laid that sloppy, wet kiss on me in front of Will and my mom."

"It wasn't sloppy." Sami said with a pout.

"Maybe not, but it was pretty hot. Come on Sami, tell the truth. You're busted. You SO wanted my body back then. All you have to do is admit it."

"Not a chance!"

"We'll see about that," Lucas said still keeping his eyes on the road. "I promise you, after we get our bodies back and after some explanation and convincing on my part, you'll be changing your tune—actually, more like screaming it." Lucas couldn't hide the satisfied smirk adorning his face at the mere thought of it.

Surprisingly, Sami just smirked back at him with a look of lusty anticipation. "I look forward to it, General."

They were each lost in their own thoughts of what they'd do to each other when given the chance. However, first they needed to get their correct bodies back and there was only one person who could possibly help them do it.

**MEANWHILE . . .**

"Sweet! Lucas filled up the tank. I was going to do it in the morning but he just saved me the trouble. He really is too anal for his own good sometimes." Philip chuckled to himself as he had to adjust his seat for Lucas' slightly smaller body. "Maybe that's when they saw my Mom."

Belle just shrugged her shoulders and looked around. "I don't know. I'm just surprised that there was no bloodshed. I bet it was funny though. I kind of wish I'd been there."

Philip laughed too at the image of Sami and Lucas fending off Kate in their bodies. "I know. To be a fly on the wall during that conversation. It looks like Sami had some fun with it."

"That's not surprising. You know she can't pass up an opportunity to aggravate Kate—and I'm sure the feeling is completely mutual. Maybe they'll cool it after she and Lucas get married." Now Belle was leaning over in the backseat looking for something.

"I wouldn't hold your breath. I don't know all the stuff that went down between them but I don't think either of them is going to get over it any time soon—what in the world are you looking for?"

Belle leaned back in her seat with an exasperated sigh. "I wanted my purse. I thought that Sami might have brought it with her when she came over but I don't see it. She didn't have it when she left so I figured she left it in here."

"Well, you can pick it up later. Maybe by then we'll be back in our own bodies." Philip didn't think having her purse was a big deal but then again, he wasn't a girl and girls tended to be inexplicably attached to those things.

Belle turned towards Philip and in her most pouty and accommodating voice asked, "Do you mind stopping by the loft so I can pick it up. It's right on the way and I'd feel much better if I had it." She batted her eyelashes and put on that pleading face that even on Sami, Philip couldn't deny.

But Philip couldn't let on that he was completely whipped even though to everyone else, nothing could have been clearer. "Belle, you're in Sami's body. Who cares if you have your own purse. People would think that was strange. Besides, don't you think we have more pressing business to attend to right now?"

"Philip, it's on the way and it would make me feel better. It's got my stuff in it—and my cell phone." She looked away from him shyly. "I guess, it would just help me to have something familiar with me given what's happened to us. Please," she pleaded. "Pretty please."

Of course, Philip was defenseless and fell to her imploring demands. "Fine!" he said with mock exasperation. "But you get to explain to Lucas and Sami why we're late."

"Deal," Belle replied looking a little too pleased with herself. Philip turned around and headed towards their apartment.

"That was such a mean trick Sami played on us. I can't believe she pretended to get all worked up over some dumb sheets." Belle twirled her hair absently thinking she definitely needed to grow her hair out longer.

"Well, at least she was just joking. I don't want to think about what she would have done if she'd actually been mad. Lucas either." He thought back to his brother's tone when discussing what happened with Sami and involuntarily shuddered.

As if reading his mind, Belle asked, "Yeah, what happened with you and Sami. Lucas didn't look too happy." Her comment held no accusation but it made Philip nervous nonetheless.

"Uh, oh nothing. Lucas was just being territorial over Sami, you know, since they're engaged and all. He didn't want to think about his woman being anywhere near another guy even if it was in his body." He hoped Belle would drop this line of questioning.

"I guess that makes sense but it's not like you and Sami were hooking up or anything . . . were you—?"

"No! No, Belle, of course not. Just the thought . . ." He pretended to be appalled by the idea but the truth was that an hour before, he hadn't been appalled at all. More like aroused. He stole a quick look in Belle's direction which really wasn't helpful since all he saw was Sami's voluptuously ripe body. He had enjoyed every minute of making love to Belle and he had only thought of her as they came together only moments before. But he'd be lying if he didn't also appreciate the delicious body that she happened to be attached to at the moment--and the delicious things that body had done to him while in its rightful owner. 'Okay, PK, enough of those thoughts. They'll only get you into more trouble and Lucas already gave you one buy for the night.'

If Belle had even the slightest suspicion of what had actually happened—or almost happened—between Philip and Sami, she chose not to let on. But given Belle's naïve nature, she probably had no clue anything was afoul. She thought Philip was the perfect gentleman and obviously only had eyes for her.

They spent the next few minutes laughing again over Lucas' reaction to her commenting on how he was a good guy even if he was a little shady sometimes. Soon enough they had arrived at the loft.

They got out of their car still laughing and making fun of Lucas as they headed for the door. Because of the hour and the distraction of their conversation, the did not notice someone coming out of the doors as they entered.

Belle chided herself for not paying attention as she bumped into the person coming out of the building as she and Philip entered. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I should have been paying attention. Here, let me help you—"

"Don't touch me you little psychopath! You probably saw me coming out and barreled into me on purpose." Kate looked at Sami spitefully until she noticed Lucas standing right behind her. "What are you two doing here. I thought you'd be at home 'celebrating' which hopefully means reconsidering this foolish notion of getting married." Kate hadn't been able to sleep so she thought she'd pay a late night visit to her son. From the look of things earlier, he was planning on making it a late night with Belle. Since turtles on vacation move faster than Philip, she was sure she wouldn't be interrupting anything.

Philip looked on in horror. Not only at how his mother was speaking to Belle but also because she had the audacity to come over at this hour. "Hey, that was uncalled for Mom! What the hell are you doing here?"

Kate sighed and put her hand against her forehead. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just tired and I was looking for Philip. I saw him about twenty minutes ago down the street but it seems he's not home yet." She looked over his shoulder and noticed Philip's car in a spot that had been empty when she came in. What were Lucas and that she-devil doing in Philip's car? "Why do you have Philip's car? Have you seen Philip and Belle?"

Belle was still taken aback by Kate yelling at her. Nobody ever yelled at her. She was the good one! Being Sami really sucked, C cup or no. "Kate, uh, Philip and Belle are over at my place. We were going to watch a move but Belle left it over here. We flipped a coin to see who would come back over here to get it and we lost but we decided to take Philip's car."

Kate just rolled her eyes at Sami. She was in no mood to deal with her tonight especially after her little run-in with Belle and Philip earlier. She decided to ignore Sami completely before she broke her promise to Lucas. "Sweetie, it's late. You should be at home resting."

Belle, clueless as ever to Kate's attempts to ignore her, replied without even a thought that Kate hated her guts. "You too, Kate. It looks like you came from work. You really work too much. Both you and Dad—I mean John, do." She glanced over at Philip in panic over her slip but tried to cover herself. "Maybe the two of you could relax and spend some time together—"

"You know, Sami, I don't think you're actually at work enough to know whether John and I are working too hard or not. I do, however, know that you're in no danger of that yourself. And don't think I didn't notice your little slip." Sami had hit a little too close to home about her and John. There was no way she could know about what happened between them earlier. But she had learned not to put anything past Sami Brady—and of course, she expected Sami to rub her face in whatever information she had on her at the moment.

Belle could tell that Kate was quickly losing control and looked over at Philip in an attempt to hurry his intervention. Philip tried to interrupt but Kate was having none of it. "Just because you tricked John into paying for this sham of a wedding doesn't mean that you're back in 'Daddy's' good graces. You've spit too much venom in his face in the past, especially in the recent past when his wife, your mother, was killed. So you can forget it."

Philip was irritated by his mother's behavior but he felt better knowing it wasn't just him that his mother treated like a two year old. He noticed that Kate had put her back to Sami and was focusing her attention solely on him. Belle hadn't even done anything and his mother was already treating her like public enemy number one. "Mom, get a hold of yourself! Why in the world would you be here at this hour? Didn't Philip tell you to back off? You're the one who should be at home resting. I'm sure you've had a rough night."

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Kate said and instantly regretted it when she saw Lucas glaring at her. "That was bad honey, don't mind me. Like I said, I'm really tired. I'm just gonna go."

Belle figured that she should get into the conversation so Kate wouldn't get suspicious. Besides, she was being really mean to Sami. Actually, Kate had been really irritating in general lately, dropping by all the time to interfere with Philip's life and complaining about Sami. Newsflash--Sami was her sister! "It's a little late Kate. Still trying to fill your quota of meddling in your sons' lives? Why don't you call it a night and scurry back where you came from." Wow, that felt great! Maybe it wasn't so bad being Sami after all.

Philip's eyes looked like full-sized dinner plates as he stared at Belle. He would have never imagined her talking to his mother, or anyone else, like that.

Kate, who was used to such comments from Sami, gave that usual look like she was grinding her teeth and biting her tongue at the same time. "Sami, I don't remember asking you anything at all. As a matter of fact, I was just fine ignoring you but as usual, you couldn't keep that smart little mouth of yours shut."

"Last I checked, referring to someone as a psychopath and yelling at them when they show some concern isn't the most standard of greetings around these parts."

"I said I was sorry, what the hell else do you want?" Kate turned back to Lucas. "Do you see how she talks to me, Lucas. I do my best but do you see how she provokes me?"

Philip, still shocked over Belle's behavior replied with the obvious. "Mom, you kind of did open up that door. Sami didn't even say anything to you. Well, except for apologizing to you and asking about your welfare that is."

"God, what is wrong with my children tonight—defending that . . . that . . . creature! I'm going home. I'll talk to you later, Lucas."

Belle, however, was just getting started. "Leaving so soon, 'Mom?'" she taunted. "Are you sure you don't want to come over and talk wedding plans with Belle and I?" Philip was glaring at her by now, but she was having too much fun insulting Kate. Maybe it had something to do with being in Sami's body but it was just coming so naturally.

Kate sent Sami a look meant to kill and stomped angrily toward her car but Belle wasn't finished with her. "Oh, that's right, you have to get back to your bitter, lonely existence where your only form of recreation is making your children miserable. Don't let us keep you," Belle said waving.

"Belle!" Philip whispered to her. "That's enough!"

Belle only giggled as she shot a parting barb at Kate. "Bye Kate. If you need to find Lucas, just check my place. But make sure to knock first, okay. You seem to have a knack for interrupting us. I guess that's to be expected when you're at it as much as Lucas and I are. You know he can't get enough of—"

Philip grabbed Belle's arm and dragged her into the building. "I think she gets the point. What was that about?" he asked angrily.

Belle just shrugged her shoulders looking every bit the part of Sami Brady at the moment. No one would believe that good little Belle was in there based on her recent performance. "I just wanted to make it convincing. We couldn't have her getting suspicious could we?"

"Well, I think you drove that point home." Philip forcefully slid the door open and Belle followed him inside. "She's my mother too remember."

Belle spotted her purse and pulled it on her shoulder. She stared over at Philip who was sulking by the door. "I remember. But you saw her. That's my sister she was talking about and I hadn't even said anything to her."

"I agree that she was a little out of control but, you know they have a history. What do you expect?" He ushered her out of the apartment and they made their way back to his car.

"Philip, don't you get tired of your mother always coming over here trying to control your life? She's obviously the same way with Lucas and would probably do the same thing to Billie and Austin if they still lived in Salem. She'll be on Rex in no time—except he doesn't really have a life outside of Mimi."

"That's just the way she is. She only does it because she loves us." He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. "But from now on, no acting out. You let me handle her." He couldn't really stay mad at Belle and it was kind of interesting to see another side of her. Although with her in Sami's body that was the understatement of the year.

Belle rubbed her hand across his shoulder. "Okay, Philip, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. But it was a little bit fun playing Sami's part with Kate. You have to admit, she was really mean."

Philip grabbed her hand from his shoulder and intertwined their fingers in his lap. "Yeah, she was—and you were spectacular as Sami. I was completely convinced and so was she. Boy, Lucas and Sami have got a long road ahead before they get to the alter. I don't envy them."

Belle looked over at Philip lovingly. "Yeah, they do but we'll help them out. Plus, they really love each other. They'll make it—even if it's an uphill struggle the whole way."

Philip smiled at her words. "That was sweet." He directed his attention back on the road. "But we've wasted enough time. We've got a psychic to see about a little body switching problem that we seemed to have developed recently."

"I think you're right," Belle giggled. "Let's do this."

They drove the rest of the way to Celeste's house in silence. Actually, it was Lexie's house since Celeste had been staying there to keep Lexie company and help with Theo. When they pulled in front of the house, they noticed Lucas and Sami already there looking somewhat annoyed.

"What took you guys so long?" Lucas asked as he and Sami climbed out of the car. "We've been waiting here for ten minutes. I know my car is so much better than yours, Phil but, it shouldn't have taken that long," Lucas said with a smirk.

"Dream on Roberts. My car would outlast yours any day." The male-centered rivalry over their cars was a running joke between the two brothers.

"Put it back in your pants, boys," Sami said with an admonishing look. "Where were you two?"

Belle stepped out of the car carrying her newly recovered purse. "One word—Kate. We'll tell you later." Lucas and Sami gave them a knowing look.

"Definitely," Sami said smiling. "Well, it's now or never. Let's go." The four of them walked up to the door a bit apprehensively. Even getting past the awkwardness of waking Celeste up in the middle of the night, they had no idea how they were going to explain their unbelievable situation.

They stood on the porch, each waiting for the other to knock on the door or ring the door bell. Lucas was about to reach up and give the door a light tap when the door magically opened as if on its own. The foursome gasped and shivers ran up their spines—that is until they realized that there was indeed someone standing behind the door.

The eclectic and mysterious psychic of Salem stood before them looking nothing less than fabulous in a lush turquoise, printed dressing gown and matching robe. She looked regal and powerful as she gazed out at the four youngsters.

The first person she noticed was Belle Black who was standing near the front of the foursome with her hands on her hips and a determined look on her face. Even though she looked a bit apprehensive or nervous about something, she still exuded a self-assuredness that Celeste wasn't used to seeing on the young woman.

Sami Brady on the other hand looked down-right scared as she clung shyly to Lucas' arm. She seemed to lack the usual bite that Celeste had grown to respect--even if it did get her in trouble more oftenthan not. Lucas on the other hand was looking protectively at Sami as he held her hand stiffly in his. That was nothing new seeing as how he had made no secret of his support of Sami throughout the tragedies of the past few months.

Philip had his hand raised as if he was about to knock. He too looked as nervous and uncomfortable as Belle did but there was also a resolve in his demeanor that she hadn't expected to see on someone so young. She didn't know these children well but if they were going to pay her a visit in the middle of the night, she would have expected the older couple to take the lead--both because they were the older siblings and because they were the stronger personalities of the group.

Something was definately off with these four young people but she supposed that's why they had come to see her. Might as well not keep them waiting. They had much to discuss and the morning hour was fast approaching.

Celeste gave the group an enigmatic smile and stepped aside for them to enter. "Come in, darlings. I've been expecting you."


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: I couldn't resist putting Celeste in the story. For years she's been my favorite recurring character and I wish we could see more of her besides the periodic necessity for a vision. I think someone wrote a fic that I loved about her possibly hooking up with Tek--something I'd enjoy much more than the Tek/Lexie thing going on right now. Maybe someday I'll get my wish. **

**By the way, I gave this my usual 3 edits so, hopefully, I caught all the little inconsistencies. As you can imagine, it's hard keeping everybody straight in a story like this. **

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

It wasn't until after the four young Salemites were seated on the couch that they began to question their decision to share their bizarre circumstances with the mysterious Celeste. Belle and Philip sat on the end of the couch closest to the door looking antsy and nervous in their siblings bodies. Sami was sitting next to Belle leaning against the arm of the couch that Lucas was currently perched on. They were all politely sipping on the tea that Celeste had laid out for them in anticipation of their visit, complete with cream and honey for Sami. It didn't escape Celeste's notice that it was Belle who reached for both items.

They were each looking at their respective counterparts trying to think of a way to begin what had to be the world's most insane story. But if there was anyone in this town that would believe them it was Celeste. Besides being attributed to all things occult that happened in Salem, as Stefano DiMera's right hand women, she had seen some strange schemes unfold that no one could even fathom.

However, it was Celeste who broke the silence in an attempt to get to the bottom of their situation. "So. What brings you over here at this hour? I'm sure this isn't strictly a friendly social call . . . especially where some of you are concerned." She said this with a slight smile and a glance first in Sami's direction. She then knowingly swept her gaze towards Belle and raised an eyebrow at the slightly placated look on the young girl's face.

It was no secret that amongst the various enemies Sami had acquired over the years, Celeste's daughter, Lexie Carver, was on the top of her list. There was definitely no love lost between the two women. But what really irritated Sami was that even though Lexie had cheated, lied and generally shown her true DiMera colors on many occasions, people just kept on forgiving her and treating her like one of the most upstanding citizens in Salem. If Sami even sneezed in the wrong direction people were jumping down her throat and cursing her name. People in this town were such hypocrites. Sami chalked it up to Lexie being a doctor but she wasn't even good at that considering the body count she had racked up in the last year alone.

On the other hand, Sami held no harsh feelings towards Celeste. She kind of liked the mysterious older woman even though she tended to spread a little too much gloom and doom for her liking. Celeste made no apologies for her less than sterling past and most importantly, she had always been fair to Sami despite her feud with Lexie. Maybe it was because Celeste was friends with her late Grandma Caroline.

Belle and Philip really didn't know anything about Celeste except for what they had gossiped about as kids. They had heard that she had been involved with Stefano DiMera and that she was supposed to be a psychic but they hadn't actually had too many conversations with her. They were really too young to know much about her story. That may be why sitting on the couch under her scrutinizing gaze was making them seriously nervous and uncomfortable.

Lucas didn't really have an opinion when it came to Celeste. Well, he did have one opinion but the fact that he thought she was one of the most stunning women in Salem with a spectacular rack really didn't have much to do with their current dilemma. Actually, he didn't know much about her except for what people said and he didn't concern himself much with that talk. Besides, over the past several years, he had had his hands full with the triple threat—Nicole, Sami and his mother. He didn't really have time to worry about what everyone else in town was up to. He wasn't sure if he truly believed the predictions people attributed to Celeste but he supposed anything was possible. One thing was for sure—she was the only person he could think of who would have a clue about what they were experiencing.

At this point he realized he had been staring at her unable to resist a little leering while she was sitting in front of them in her nightclothes. He turned to Sami to see if she had noticed which she, of course, had. 'She must have some kind of weird girl-radar,' he thought turning his attention safely back to his tea. In retaliation, Sami pinched Lucas rather hard on his thigh eliciting a slight yelp and the rattling of his teacup. Noting her warning glare, he supposed her deserved that punishment.

'And to think, this is the same noble Lucas who played extreme hard-to-get with my cute little sister for fifteen minutes. It looks like the regular lecherous Lucas is back in action if the drool dripping from his chin is any indication,' Sami said to herself with a frown. Celeste pretended to ignore the exchange between the two.

Belle was the first to speak up with her usual perky babble that sounded strange coming from Sami's mouth. "We didn't mean to disturb you Ms. Perrault—"

"Celeste, darling."

"—sorry . . . Celeste. It's just that something strange has happened and we didn't know who else we could turn to. I mean, who would believe that something like this could happen. No one in their right mind would believe—"

"Sweetie?" Sami said in a warning tone.

"—not that we think you're insane or anything. We would never believe those kinds of rumors. You're just your own kind of person and—"

"Honey," Philip added thinking that it would appear normal for Lucas to prevent Sami from putting her entire foot in her mouth.

"—people shouldn't gossip about other people that way anyway so I tell those people—"

"Sweetie! Stop helping." Sami spat out before Belle got them thrown out with her mindless chatter. Belle abruptly stopped her rant silently thanking Sami for saving her from herself.

"What she's trying to say," Lucas started, "was that just a little while ago, something strange happened to us—well, actually, it happened to me and Philip first and then Sami and Belle joined us."

"To you and 'Philip' you say?" Celeste said looking pointedly at him. "I see," she said sipping her tea.

"What he means," Sami tried to explain, "is that we seem to have changed recently. That is, me and Lucas," Sami said waving a finger between herself and Philip sitting on the arm of the couch, "—and Philip and Belle aren't ourselves. We're . . ." she gestured to her body in an attempt to logically explain what had happened to them.

"Look," Philip interrupted. "We're messed up! This isn't a joke. We are not playing with you. We're just really messed up!" he said in an agitated tone, frustrated that they couldn't get across the proper significance of their situation.

Celeste calmly looked back and forth amongst the four people sitting on her couch. They were each in various states of panic. Philip had set his teacup down and was wringing his hands together. Lucas was running his hand vigorously through his hair. Belle was taking an aggressive sip of tea while swinging one of her crossed legs back and forth and Sami looked like she was going to burst out in tears any second.

If the situation hadn't been so odd, she would have burst out laughing at their inability to tell a simple story. However, now having heard some semblance of an explanation from them, she could sympathize with their stress. "Let me get this straight. Sometime tonight, you two," pointing at Lucas and Philip, "discovered that you had mysteriously switched bodies and not long afterwards, you two," gesturing at Belle and Sami, "found yourselves in the same predicament. So you've come to me to try and figure out how this happened and, more importantly, how to fix it." Celeste took another casual sip of her tea and set her cup on the table.

All four of the siblings were silenced as Celeste summed up their entire situation from remnants of their incoherent babbling.

"Uh, yeah, that's about it," Sami said from inside Belle's body.

"Just so I am clear—you," she said pointing to Sami, "you're Isabella Black." Belle nodded looking a little more together than she had a few minutes before. Pointing to Lucas next, she said, "You are Philip Kiriakis, no?"

"That's right," Philip said verifying his identity.

"That must mean that you, over there, are Samantha Brady."

"The shirt gave me away didn't it," Sami said.

Celeste grinned and quickly glanced at the words 'Bad Girl' etched across Sami's chest. Let's just say, that it was a helpful clue," she replied.

She then looked at Philip. "And you, sitting quite comfortably on the arm of my daughter's expensive couch, must be Lucas Roberts."

"You got it," Lucas said quickly scurrying to sit on the floor in front of Sami. "Sorry about that," he said a bit sheepishly.

"That's quite alright, child," Celeste said as she gathered their cups and placed them back on the matching serving tray. "So this is a brother and sister type of switch. Well, half brother and half sister. Does anyone have full-blooded siblings these days?" Celeste commented followed by the musical tinkle of her laughter.

Philip, Lucas and Belle nodded knowingly. Although Sami figured the question was rhetorical she responded anyway to set the record straight. "Hey, I've got a twin brother, remember?"

Lucas shrugged. "He doesn't count for purposes of this conversation. Where's he been the last few years?"

"Well, you know he lives in Colorado but he was in Seattle for a while and then he was up in Boston—wait, shut up Lucas!" Philip and Belle snickered at the two and their ability to argue about anything in any given situation.

Celeste raised her voice to be heard over the arguing couple. "My point is, that it is convenient that it happened to two sets of siblings. Let's see if we can figure this out." Suddenly she closed her eyes and held her hands in front of her palms out. Without opening her eyes she whispered to them urgently. "I can feel that something is not right with the elements around you. The forces are not aligned and everything is out of sorts." She opened her eyes suddenly and dropped her hands before looking at them. "But, I'm sure you had that general idea before coming to see me," she said lightly.

"Well, duh!" Sami said receiving a slight shove from Lucas seated at her feet. Celeste only laughed at her outburst. Now that was the Sami Brady she was used. She couldn't shake that biting wit even in Belle's body. "The question is what do we do about it. I know you are a lot more . . . perceptive than most people." She gave Celeste a hopeful look and asked shyly, "Have you seen anything like this before? Do you think you could help us get our bodies back?" Lucas ran a soothing hand up and down her leg from where he sat and then grasped the hand that rested in her lap.

"Celeste, you've got to help us. We can't stay like this!" Belle said with tears in her eyes. "I just want my old body back and I don't know anyone else who could help us." She then curled herself into Philip who put a comforting arm around her shoulders. He was trying to calm Belle down but it was clear that he was worried about getting back into his own body too.

"I have seen many things in my days and although I don't have all the answers, I do know that if there is something wrong with the universe, it always rights itself one way or another—many times in ways that we least expect it. More than likely, this had occurred to show you something. It is possible that a lesson must be learned before you are ready to return to your rightful bodies."

Sami crossed her arms in a huff. "It's shown me some things alright. Some of which will, regrettably, be burned in my memory forever," she said looking directly at Philip and Belle. Both looked away guiltily.

"Tell me about it," Lucas said thinking back on the disturbing game of cat and mouse he had played with his horny future sister-in-law.

"Come on, let it go you two. Geez!" Philip said.

"Yeah, let's just forget it." Belle said with an embarrassed flush. "What was that you were saying, Celeste?" she asked trying to focus the attention away from her, Philip and their hormones.

'It must have been an interesting evening,' Celest thought with a smile. "Have you talked to anyone else tonight? Is anyone suspicious?"

"Well, unfortunately, we all ran into Kate." Sami spat out her name like it was the worst curse word on the books. "She'd have to spend two seconds not obsessing over her sons' lives before she would realize anything was wrong." Philip and Lucas were prepared to defend their mother but Sami did have a point.

"Philip and I just saw her a few minutes ago and she didn't seem to realize anything was wrong." Belle giggled thinking about the awful things she had shouted at Kate as she left. "As a matter of fact, when she left us, she was pretty upset so I don't think she suspects a thing about our situation." Sami raised an eyebrow at this and gave Belle a look that demanded to know the details as soon as possible.

Sami then remembered the phone conversation she had before leaving to find Philip and Belle. "I talked to Mimi for a minute about an hour ago. We didn't talk for long so I doubt she thought anything was amiss. Oh, Belle, by the way, she's gonna stop by later on to borrow your car."

Philip unwisely figured he should fill everyone in on the true nature of this conclusion. "You were on the phone with Mimi for a minute? Of course she's going to know something's wrong. Those two have to yak on the phone for a half hour minimum for it to be considered a worthwhile conversation. Ow!" Philip exclaimed as Belle smacked him in the arm. "It's true! You know you can be such a girl sometimes," he added playfully.

"I am not!"

"Oh yeah? Who made me turn around so you could go back to the loft and get your purse?" Philip challenged.

"So that's where you guys were. Is that when you saw Mom? What the hell was she doing at your place at this hour?" Lucas said laughing hysterically. "I can't believe she was checking up on you, especially after I told her to back off not even an hour ago. It's like talking to a brick wall. Fortunately I have a lot of practice with that," he said looking meaningfully at Sami.

Sami, for her part, chose to ignore his comment. "Doesn't she have better things to do in the middle of the night? You think she would have learned her lesson after what happened with me and Lucas."

Now it was Philip's turn to laugh hysterically. "Yeah, I heard about that. Did she really walk in on you two . . ." He could tell by their expressions that they had, in fact, been right in the middle of doing the deed. Belle's laughter joined Philip's as they amused themselves at their siblings' expense. Still feeling the sting over Sami's little joke on them earlier Philip kept right on going. "How embarrassing. And Sami, have you recovered your taste for Italian food yet, lasagna in particular?" Philip let out another loud cackle as Belle looked on confused. She hadn't heard anything about Italian food but it sounded funny all the same.

Although Celeste found all of this subtext fascinating on one level, it was getting late and she really did need to get her beauty rest. "Okay children, let's focus. The hour is already late and there is much to make right before morning." All four ceased their taunting and looked back over at Celeste obediently.

"Here's what I want you to do. You go back home and find a quiet, clear space to think. You can do it together," motioning to the two couples, "but make sure that there is room for you to find your centers and hear your inner voice."

Philip, Sami and Lucas didn't know about all this inner voice, finding-your-center stuff but if it was going to help them get back to their own bodies then they'd give it their best effort. Belle on the other hand was excited to try a few new age techniques. "This is going to be so cool! I skimmed this book about meditation and stuff at Urban Outfitters and it sounded like a lot of fun. Can I use my scented candles too that Mimi gave—" Four sets of eyes were looking at her—one pair belonging to a very well-meaning psychic who was quickly losing patience with the chatty youngsters. "Sorry. Please continue. Inner voice, clear, quiet space . . ."

"Thank you. As I was saying, I want you to focus on clearing a space in your mind to think about what this experience and what the universe is trying to tell you. Think about the lessons you've learned by being someone else and the experiences you have gathered that you can draw upon in your future. It is imperative that you direct your attention to aligning the forces in the universe that have been turned around. You must put all of your energy into making right what has been thrown askew. I will give you some time to do this and then I will focus my energies on you as well. Hopefully, when you rise along with the sun, you will find yourselves as you should be."

Ever the optimist, Sami asked, "What if it's not fixed in the morning? Are we going to be stuck like this forever? Because I'll tell you right now, I did not endure my awkward teenage years to be stuck in an A cup."

"Amen," Lucas said thinking about a life without Sami and her ample bosom. Sami glared at him and he quickly backtracked. "Baby, you looked good back then. You were adorable. Don't be so hard on yourself." Sami didn't look convinced at his choice of words. "Hey, I'm the one who got you pregnant at seventeen, remember?"

"As much as I love Will, I don't think that's something to brag about," Sami said with a roll of her eyes. Lucas opened his mouth to reply but figured he should quit while he was ahead.

Celeste only smiled mindfully at Sami. "Samantha, I understand, darling, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, no?"

Belle still looked a little miffed at Sami's comment but Philip was quick to tell her that he liked her A cups. "They look good on you Belle, trust me." That succeeded in making Belle smile. He truly thought Belle was the perfect women, both physically and mentally. But he also wouldn't be opposed to an upgrade to Sami-sized breasts if she so desired. He was a guy after all--and as an intelligent guy, he knew better than to ever reveal such a thought to Belle.

At this point Celeste had had quite enough of these hormone driven young people in her home. "If there isn't anything else, I suggest you all return home and get started. This task is not as easy as it seems." She stood up from her chair followed by Sami, Philip and Belle. Having seemingly forgiven Lucas for his previous comments, Sami helped him up from off the floor. They all thanked Celeste as they headed towards the front door.

"Don't worry Celeste. We'll do our best to follow your instructions." Belle said to the older woman.

Celeste placed her hand gently to Belle's face. "I know you will Isabella. Hopefully, I will not be seeing the four of you later on today and you'll be able to sleep in back in your own bodies."

"Thanks for believing us Celeste," Philip said taking Belle's hand and leading her down the walkway.

"We'll let you know how it turns out," Lucas added as he followed Sami out of the door. "Sorry about the couch."

"Yeah, don't mind him—he was raised by a she-wolf," Sami said with a smirk.

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Lucas said, his tone dripping in sarcasm. "Just get in the car."

"Don't rush me Lucas, I'm trying to thank Celeste!" an irritated Sami replied. She turned her attention back to the woman standing on the porch. "So, yeah, uh, thanks. We both know how I feel about your daughter but I really appreciate you backing me up recently, you know, with my mom and all. It means a lot that you're helping us out."

"I just call it like I see it as they say, Samantha. It is my pleasure to help." She then pinned Sami down with a stern look. "But since you mention it, try to go a little easier on Alexandra, alright? Sami didn't looked please but managed to grunt out a sound of assent. "Well, goodnight, Celeste," Sami and Lucas replied before turning towards the car.

"Goodnight and good luck." She closed the door and went to clear away the tea tray still sitting on the table. All of a sudden she heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up to see her daughter walking towards her looking disheveled and sleepy in her pajamas. "What's the matter, darling? Did Theo wake in the middle of the night again?"

Lexie stared sleepily down at the scene in the living room. "No Mom, he's fast asleep. I thought I heard voices. Was someone else here?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart. We didn't mean to wake you. They're gone now." She knew her daughter was often skeptical when it came to her 'extraordinary powers' so she chose to keep her recent visitors to herself. Not to mention that Alexandra would be less than pleased upon learning that Samantha Brady had been in her home.

"Who was coming over in the middle of the night?" Lexie asked yawning.

"No one important, darling. Just a few young souls who needed my help and counsel. It's nothing to concern yourself with. Go back to bed. I'm sure you must be tired from working these past few nights."

Lexie didn't want to push the issue since she had a feeling that the 'help' and 'counsel' her mother was referring to had something to do with her talents in the occult. If that was the case, she would rather not know the details. "Okay, Mom. I'll just check on Theo before going back to bed." As she reached the landing her curiosity got the best of her and she asked, "Were you able to help them?"

Celeste was surprised by the inquiry since Lexie usually had no interest in encouraging her spiritual pursuits. Still, she figured that the less she said the better. "Well, the spirits showed me that the forces of nature were strongly out of line for these young people. I simply encouraged them to reflect on their situation and learn from their experiences in hopes of righting the universe to its natural course."

Lexie seemed to think about that for a moment. "I suppose, that's good advice for all of us—especially lately. Goodnight Mom."

"Goodnight Alexandra. Pleasant dreams." She returned to cleaning up the living room and preparing for bed herself. Of course, there was still the business of saying a prayer for Isabella, Philip, Lucas and Samantha in the hope that it would help them return to their rightful identities.

'Did I help them? That's an interesting question Alexandra," Celeste thought as she picked up the tea tray and carried it into the kitchen. 'How in the world should I know if I helped them? I'm a psychic not a body switching expert. I only know what the spirits choose to tell me and they weren't telling me a thing about the intricacies of sibling body switching.' But nonetheless she believed their story and gave them the best advice she could and hopefully the prayer would help too. It wouldn't hurt them to engage in a little self-reflection, especially that impulsive Samantha. She sincerely hoped that their little problem worked itself out because she didn't think she had the patience to deal with the four of them again anytime soon.

Besides, she had to deal with the strange visions she was having about being on an island but being in Salem at the same time. Sometimes, the victims of the recent killing spree would talk to her. It was all very odd and troubling but by now, Celeste was accustomed to such things.

"These are mysterious times for us all," Celeste concluded as she finally headed to her room to consult the spirits.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Well, folks, the bad news is that this tale is coming to a close. I think I might only have 1 or 2 more chapters left depending on how long-winded I get. It's actually great timing since I start back to work on Monday. The good news is that I already have Chapter 1 of the sequel finished and it's looking like another fun one. Getting it started is motivating me to wrap this one up so I can go on to other adventures. **

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN **

The two couples agreed that Philip and Belle would return to Sami's apartment and Sami and Lucas would return to the loft. They figured if everything worked out, it would be better for them to return to their own places.

Philip and Belle were lost in their own thoughts on the drive back. Perhaps they were trying to get a head start on Celeste's instructions and in a way, they were. Both seemed slow to digest their task at hand.

They silently entered Sami's apartment and Belle immediately plopped down on the couch deep in thought. Philip followed after her stopping only to pick up the blanket that Sami had discarded earlier that night. He tried to think of something comforting to say but nothing came to mind. He had secretly hoped that Celeste would just know what to do and would magically be able to put them back in their own bodies. It seemed foolish now to think that she would be able to do something like that but he had held onto the hope anyway.

It was Belle who broke the silence as she revealed her thoughts to Philip. "I guess I thought Celeste would be able to magically transform us back." She laughed nervously risking an embarrassed glance towards Philip. "I guess that was pretty silly."

Philip was quick to put his arms around her in a comfortable embrace. He wondered if holding her would be this easy back in their own bodies. "It wasn't silly at all. I was thinking the same thing. I think we all were." Belle softly leaned her head against Philip's shoulder. "Do you think her advice is going working."

Belle shook her head indecisively in Philip's embrace. "I have no idea." She held her position for a few moments and then pulled herself out of Philip's warm arms. "But I think we should give it a try. I mean, she wouldn't have told us to do it if it wasn't going to help at least a little, right?" The pleading in her eyes told Philip that Belle was looking to him for reassurance.

"Of course, it'll help, Belle. Celeste knows what she's talking about when it comes to this stuff, remember?" He gently grasped her hand and caressed the soft skin of her palm with his thumb. "Even if its not exactly what we're used to, we need to give it a try just to say we did." He looked around nervously, clearly feeling out of place with the situation. So . . . do you think we need anything special, like candles or incense or something."

Belle laughed and clasped her hands in his. "I don't think it's a prerequisite but a few candles might help us get in the mood." Belle got up and dug through Sami's drawers for some candles. She found a few large, lilac-scented votive candles and placed them on the table. She walked over to the door and turned off the lights leaving just the glow of the candles to illuminate the room.

Philip liked the dim lights and the soft scent of the candles. It was definitely easier to overlook the fact that Belle was currently in Sami's body in this setting. Belle walked back over to the couch and sat down. "So what are we supposed to be doing? Finding our center and reflecting," Philip said with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah. I think we're supposed to reflect on what we've learned from switching bodies with Sami and Lucas." Both sat there quietly for a few minutes trying their best to accomplish their task at hand. Belle had closed her eyes and was trying to breathe evenly like she had done once in a yoga class. That seemed like a good template. Philip simply stared at the candles and tried not to dwell on how silly he felt 'feeling out the forces of the universe' and 'focusing on his center.'

After a few more minutes, Philip couldn't take it anymore. "Why don't we try working on this together," he said looking terribly uncomfortable by his efforts.

Belle opened her eyes and focused on Philip. "That's a good idea," she replied quickly. Truth be told, this whole thing wasn't working for her either. "Maybe you should try telling me what you've learned from switching bodies with Lucas."

Philip smirked at her. "I'll tell you one thing. I'll never again take for granted how great it is being a big guy." He inspected himself once again while shaking his head.

"I don't know Philip," Belle said with a smile. "I think Lucas looks pretty good." Philip just rolled his eyes at her. "Besides, he and Sami are a perfect fit, don't you think."

Philip had to admit the truth of that. He had thought as much earlier as they lay in Sami's bed after making love. He nodded his head reluctantly at her observation. "Even so, I'll be much happier back in my own body."

"Of course," Belle said laughing at him. "Seriously, Philip. Is there something you did appreciate about being in Lucas' body?" She stared at him innocently really wanting to know his answer. Philip looked back a little guiltily as he recalled one very aroused and demanding future sister-in-law that he had appreciated a little too much earlier in the evening. He knew he needed to get over it but that body of hers was just too sexy for him to forget. However, he certainly wouldn't mind forgetting about the attitude and utter insanity that came along with it.

"Uh, well," Philip stuttered out. "I guess it was great to get a different perspective of things." He really didn't know what to say. He really hadn't spent that much time in Lucas' body that didn't involve the majority of his brain cells being focused on his sex drive. He gave Belle a playful smirk and said, "I mean, things really do look different from down here."

Belle softly threw a pillow at him and Philip noted that it was a lot less hateful than when Sami had done it. "Philip, you're not helping. Fine, I'll start." She bit her lip as if in deep thought. "Well, I learned that Lucas is a really sweet guy who loves my sister a lot. I'm still a little embarrassed about that whole thing though," Belle commented to herself as a blush crept into her face. She then straightened up a little and said, "I certainly learned that it's not always Sami who starts things with your mother. She totally went off the deep end and all I was doing was standing there." Philip didn't look convinced but Belle looked down as a small revelation filled her. "I know she's done some bad stuff in the past but I guess you could get a little bitter when people are automatically mean to you for no reason."

"Hey, I know she's your sister but Sami brings a lot of that on herself too. She's not exactly blameless for her lack of popularity around here, especially when it comes to my mom. You certainly weren't helping things with your little performance earlier."

"Please Philip, your mom gives as good as she gets and you know it." Philip knew there was no denying that. "Sami wasn't always like that. She had a lot of crazy things happen to her while she was growing up. I just mean that it's not really fair to judge her for some things since I have no idea what she's been through in her life. Sometimes, I wish she could be as loving to everyone else as she is with me. Even when I'm being a brat, I know that I can always count on her. I think it would be good for her too."

Philip didn't know if that would change anything but he was willing to give Sami the benefit of the doubt despite that sharp tongue of hers. Mmmm, Sami's tongue. 'Stop it, PK! No more of that.' "Maybe things will get better after she and Lucas get married. They really make each other happy. I know Lucas has worked a lot on improving his life. Even though I was a kid for most of that period, I know that his life was pretty much a mess for a long time." Their age difference had often worked to keep them comfortably distant but as he matured, they both tried to build a better bond between the two. Lucas really was a great guy and a decent big brother too.

Another more sinister thought entered his mind at the moment as he thought about Lucas and Sami. "I learned not to ever cross those two. The two of them together are lethal when they're trying to put something over on you." They both laughed thinking about Sami's tirade over her 'soiled sheets.' Lucas hadn't been as evil but he had certainly played along well enough.

As Belle's laughter died down she gave Philip a beautifully bashful look. "Well, whatever happens, I know that even if they weren't my sister and almost brother-in-law, they'd still be special to me because of what we did tonight. Belle leaned over and planted a sweet kiss on Philip's lips. Philip caressed her cheek as she pulled away. "Doing that is still pretty weird by the way," Belle said to him pulling away completely.

"Noted," Philip said. He looked back over at the candles as the light it produced danced against the walls of the room. Even though it seemed like they hadn't gotten very far with Celeste's instructions of finding their center and all, he felt like what they were doing was right all the same. "Look Belle, I don't know about all that new age talk Celeste was giving us earlier but I know that if we're supposed to reflect on what we've experienced this evening then I'd rather do it with you in my arms." He leaned back in and kissed her more deeply making sure she felt the passion he felt for her.

Although she hated to admit it, being with Philip like this felt more right than sitting around trying to conjure up something she wasn't sure she believed in. Belle smiled up into Philip's now deep brown eyes. "I guess, Lucas and Sami wouldn't mind waking up like that when we get back into our own bodies." Philip loved that, even now, she was being so strong and optimistic for him.

Philip took her hands in his and kissed each before leaning her back against the couch. He began to kiss her lightly and then with more passion. Belle whimpered as she allowed Philip to ravish her body. While Philip was placing feather light kisses along her neck, Belle leaned over and blew out the flames from the two candles still burning brightly on the table. The two young lovers continued to make love, witnessed only by the stringy wisps of smoke rising from the extinguished flames.

**MEANWHILE . . .**

Lucas and Sami were anything but silent as they returned to Philip and Belle's loft. Currently they were bickering about Sami's relationship with Lexie—or lack thereof.

"All I'm saying Sami is that if you don't like the woman, then why don't you just ignore her. It wouldn't kill you to exercise a little self-control."

Sami gave Lucas a very unladylike snort. "Don't talk to me about self-control. That woman's very existence disturbs me and somebody in this town needs to call her on her hypocrisy. I can't stand by and let her belittle me with her pathetic, self-righteous attitude when she's off doing the same things she's condemning me for."

Lucas sighed heavily and tried to focus on the road instead of the stubborn woman beside him. "Look, I'm not saying she's a saint or anything. I'm just saying that for your sake, it might be better to let her be and not worry about what she's doing."

Her only reaction was a look of disbelief and outrage at the suggestion. "Do you hear yourself Lucas? That woman is quite possibly responsible for my mother being buried alive and you want me to sit around and twiddle my thumbs while she slithers away to safety. She's the one who said my mom was dead and let's not forget all the horrible things she said to me when we first heard those ludicrous accusations about my mother killing all those people."

"Sami—"

"No Lucas. I'm tired of people taking her side over mine when she's done things just as bad if not worse than I have. When people complain about the things that I do, at least I'm doing it for a good reason—like my son or the people I love. What's her excuse besides the fact that she's a dirty DiMera."

Lucas knew that he was on thin ice so he decided to choose his words carefully. "Nobody's saying that you don't give everything for the people you love but that doesn't justify hurting other people—for you or for her." He hoped the rest of the night wasn't going to be spent arguing like this. Although if Celeste wanted them to find their center together, their bickering wasn't very far from the core.

Sami only continued to pout in her seat. "You're one to talk she said quietly." Of course he had been expecting that comment.

"You're right, Sami. I've made some mistakes too in the name of protecting my son and my mother but I'm willing to own up to them and realize that the ends don't justify the means sometimes." They pulled into a parking space in front of the loft and Lucas cut the engine. "I don't want to fight with you Sami. I just think that it wouldn't be so bad to honor Celeste's request."

"God Lucas, I said I would. What else do you want from me?" She opened the car door angrily and gave it a good slam before marching swiftly to the front door. She heard Lucas' door close and his footsteps approaching as he followed her into the building. He grabbed her arm and turned her around before she could get too much farther ahead of him.

"Calm down. Why don't you stop being defensive for five seconds and listen to what I'm saying."

The fire in her eyes was unmistakable. "I'm not being def—"

"Cut the crap," Lucas said with intensity. "I love you Sami and I'm tired of seeing you hurt yourself needlessly. You need to stop reacting to people and worrying about what they think. All you need to do is be the best person you can be. The only people you need to worry about are me and Will because we love you and only want you to be happy." Sami pulled her arm away from him though not as forcefully as he would have expected. She silently walked towards Belle and Philip's loft and worked on unlocking the door. She paused when she felt Lucas' hands on her shoulders and his breath against her ear. "Sami, you might be right. Lexie might be the biggest hypocrite in Salem. Yes, she's said some terrible and unfair things to you and maybe, just maybe, she was negligent when she dealt with your mother's death. But all that has nothing to do with how you live your life. If all that's true then let her dig her own grave. Don't feel like you need to do it for her."

"Bad choice of words," replied Sami. She had unlocked the door by this time and slid it open. For the first time that evening, she was feeling extremely tired. She didn't want to have this conversation especially when they were supposed to be focusing on getting back into their own bodies. Still, she couldn't help but be moved by Lucas' words. She knew that she worried too much about the judgments people placed on her. She knew he was right but it was so much easier to hold on to the anger than to let people walk all over her. "Lucas, I know you're trying to help me and I love you for it but please try to realize that sometimes its not that easy. Whenever I try to turn the other cheek, I get sucker punched by life so I've learned to stay on my guard."

Lucas opened his mouth to say something but Sami cut him off. "But, I know you have a point and I'll try to tone it down a little. I told Celeste I would and I meant it, no matter how much it'll kill me to do it." She practically threw herself on the couch and tucked one leg underneath herself. Lucas carefully seated himself behind her and took her in his arms.

"I only ask that you try, Sami. With Lexie and with my mom. I know it's hard for you and I know you have your reasons for lashing out but it makes me really happy when you show them how grown up you are. It makes me even more proud of you." He kissed her check and entwined their hands together in front of her.

Sami brought one of his hands to her face and brushed it with her lips. "Thanks for putting up with me, Lucas. I love you too and I do want you and Will to be proud of me." They stayed that way for a few moments just enjoying the warmth of the others' body even if it was technically their siblings' they were feeling. Finally, Sami stirred beneath Lucas and turned her head to face him. "I guess we should get started with Celeste's instructions."

Lucas reluctantly let her go and sat facing forward on the couch. "Yeah, so how do we do this? I have to admit that this is way out of my area of expertise."

"You mean there's an area that you are an expert in?" Sami asked playfully.

"You know better than anyone out there that I've got skills," he said giving her a sexy look and flexing his muscles.

Sami just rolled her eyes. "Come to think of it, you are pretty good at taking out the garbage." Without warning, Lucas leaped on her tickling her in all the places that worked on her old body. Unfortunately for Sami, it seemed that she and Belle shared that particular genetic marker. She laughed uncontrollably as he assaulted her most sensitive tickle spots.

"Taking out the garbage, huh? You got something else to add?" He wasn't going to let up until she told him what he wanted to hear.

Sami had tears running down her face and Lucas showed no sign of letting up. "Okay, okay Lucas." He slowed his ministrations to allow her to talk. "I'm sorry Lucas, you're good at lots of things."

"Such as," he asked while his hands remained at her sides.

"Well, I hear that you wash a mean set of dishes too," Sami said and tried to run away from Lucas' hold. Lucky for Lucas, he was a little faster than she was. He caught her and threw her back on the couch. As the time passed, he was getting used to seeing his Sami inside of Belle's body. That didn't mean that he wanted to get too intimate with her right now or that he wouldn't greatly prefer Sami back in her own body, but it made moments like this enjoyable.

"Lucas, stop!" Sami screamed. "Don't get mad at me because you make a good houseboy." Lucas pretended to look shocked and continued his tickle assault.

"Houseboy! You're digging yourself deeper into that hole, sweetie. Try again."

Sami was finding it hard to breathe for laughing so hard at him. She didn't even mind so much that he was in Philip's body since she knew it was really her Lucas in there. She didn't think she would ever get used to crawling into bed with a kid she had known since he was a baby but she was enjoying their little fight nonetheless. "Okay Lucas, I'll admit it. You're the biggest stud in the world and your sexual skills can be matched by no other in the universe, human or otherwise."

"What else?" Lucas asked now joining her laughter.

What an ego! "Just the thought of your rippling muscles and your naked body makes me swoon with desire. You're such a expert lover that you should make steamy sex tapes to show the world how it's really done."

Lucas finally let Sami up and wiped away the tears of laughter painted across her face. Her cheeks were beautifully flushed and her hair a mess. No, this wasn't his Sami on the outside but he loved her anyway. "Actually, Sami, the sex tape thing was my idea so I shouldn't even give you credit for that one. But since you suggested it, when all of this craziness is over, we can run right out to Salem Place and get a camcorder so we an get started."

"We?" Sami asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lucas playfully tickled the foot that she had carelessly left in front of him. Sami giggled loudly and hid it underneath her body. "Well, I would be nothing without my number one inspiration, right? We'd put Pam and Tommy to shame. We'd wipe the floor with that Paris Hilton sex tape."

Sami let a dreamy expression cross her face. "Oh, Lucas, just what I've always hoped for--a chance to star in my very own porno. You sure know how to show a girl the stars."

He chuckled at her. "Hey, that would be 'our' very own porno and I do my best. Now about righting the universe and all . . ."

"Oh yeah," Sami said looking serious again. "We're supposed to be reflecting and centering right . . . or is it justifying. Whatever, let's get to it."

"You can't just 'get to it.' We've got to prepare and concentrate." He moved farther away from her and proceeded to look deep in thought.

Sami gave a haughty laugh in his direction. "You said yourself that you're not the expert on this stuff so stop trying to take charge. I'll find my center myself." Sami sat back on the couch face forward sporting a determined look on her face.

Lucas acknowledged that it was rather perverted but the thought of Sami finding her own center was quite arousing to him. 'Don't go there Lucas. That's too dangerous. You're supposed to be concentrating on getting back in your own body not thinking about getting into Sami's body.' However, the ensuing thought of trying to get back into Sami's body brought him right back to perverted. Lucas glanced over at Sami and observed her sitting there looking slightly contemplative but a little confused.

"What are you thinking about over there—"

"Shhh, Lucas, I'm reflecting," Sami said with an irritated tone.

"I just wanted to know what you've learned about being Belle?"

Sami let out a dramatic sigh and turned towards Lucas. "You mean besides appreciating the wonders of having larger breasts, right?"

Lucas shrugged, unapologetic. "I'm not going to complain about that. I'd be willing to show you my appreciation every day if we get back into our own bodies."

"Perv," Sami said smiling. Lucas didn't deny it. "Well, it was interesting having Kate being so nice to me—and by interesting, I mean incredibly weird."

"I don't know why, Sami. You two got along back in the day even though that seems like ages ago." Back then, Lucas had been going through his own family trauma and cute little Sami Brady was obsessed with her sister's boyfriend.

"Yeah, ages ago. I can hardly remember those bizarre times." Sami tried to seem nonchalant but Lucas knew better. "It was nice knowing that even a beautiful, naked, not to mention extremely horny co-ed couldn't tempt you to get a little pre-marital action."

"I wish I could say the same thing about my brother," Lucas said still a little irritated by Philip's actions with his fiancée. His frown turned into a smile when he looked back at her. "You know, the only beautiful, blonde trouble-maker I want is you."

A confused look crossed Sami's face. "Thanks, I think. Your brother has nothing on you, Lucas, believe me. At least now I know that I rate above that slut ex-wife of yours."

"By leaps and bounds, Sami," Lucas said frowning again at the mention of Nicole. "Now, what was the universe trying to tell me about being Philip? I learned that it's not just my life that my mom keeps trying to control since she's on Philip's case just as hard."

"Yeah, she's a busybody no matter what your last name is." Lucas gave her a warning glare and she quickly apologized.

"Speaking of which, I definitely learned not to mess with Sami Brady's sheets," he said with a chuckle.

"And don't you forget it, General. I don't know if this is what Celeste had in mind but I have to admit that I feel a little better. I don't think I was meant to focus for too long on the universe or whatever it is that we're supposed to be doing." Sami moved in closer to Lucas' end of the couch and curled up against him.

Lucas moved himself around to make room for her. "I feel better too. Maybe we'd be better off finding our center and aligning our forces while we sleep. There won't be so many distractions then," Lucas commented running his fingers up and down her arms.

Sami shivered at his touch. "Maybe you're right." She grabbed the blanket that she had balled up earlier and arranged it over their bodies. "I like being with you like this. I feel so safe. Let's just get some sleep and maybe things will be alright in the morning like Celeste said." Neither usually slept in so many clothes but they figured that wearing anything less would be uncomfortable for all involved.

"Right." Lucas reached up and turned off the only lamp lighting the room. "Good night, Sami. Sweet dreams."

"You too. Good night my sexy houseboy," she said chuckling.

"Watch it," Lucas replied giving her a squeeze.

"Be quiet, Lucas and focus on righting the universe. Geez, is that so hard?" Sami said playfully.

"Not with you in my arms, Sami." She could hear the sincerity in his tone and it warmed every inch of her. She turned in his arms and in the darkness, she rewarded Lucas with a deep, probing kiss. They wrapped their bodies more securely around each other and drifted off to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: The next 2 chapters were originally 1 single chapter but they were just too long together and I had to split them up. I still think they read better together. I've got at least 1 more chapter after the next one and then that's it. I'll hop right to working on the sequal.**

**Thanks again, Kayla and Katy for reviewing. I'm sure y'all will get a kick out of the sequel. Hopefully anybody else lurking out there wouldn't mind dropping me a review to let me know how this all went. This is my first posted story and it would really help to see how I did. **

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN **

**AT BELLE AND PHILIP'S LOFT**

No one could accuse Philip of being a morning person. Even after the discipline of the military, he still hated to get up in the morning. He was more content to lie in bed all day until nature or hunger called. Thoughts of Belle and making love to her brought a smile to his face. However, he slowly recalled in his mind the bizarre events of the past several hours including the horrible run-in with his mother and the impromptu visit to Celeste. He also remembered his less than gentlemanly attention to Sami while in Lucas' body. His eyes were still shut and he was extremely afraid to open them—afraid that he wouldn't like what he woke up to. All of a sudden, his reluctance to get up in the morning seemed entirely justified.

Even behind his closed eyelids, he could see the light coming in from the window although the room hadn't quite warmed up yet. As he became aware of his surroundings, he realized that he was lying on a couch and he was filled with dread. 'It didn't work. What are we going to do now?' His suspicions were confirmed when he moved his hand and felt it collide with a warm, soft body in his arms. He could feel Belle's—or rather Sami's—naked flesh against his fingers and let out a heavy sigh. 'I guess it's on to Plan B,' he thought.

But what in the world could Plan B possibly involve? Maybe they hadn't worked hard enough on Celeste's instructions and it all backfired. But, honestly, he just couldn't get into what they were supposed to be doing—he didn't even really know exactly what it was that he was supposed to be doing. If Celeste couldn't help them then they were completely screwed. Not that he would necessarily mind all that much if Belle were stuck in Sami's body but, he imagined it would incredibly confusing.

'Might as well get up and face the music,' Philip thought and slowly opened his eyes. He tried not to stretch his limbs out so as not to disturb Belle but he did give his neck a little turn to avoid a cramp. He had forgotten how uncomfortable it was to sleep on a couch, even in Lucas' body. When he turned his head away from the couch he noticed that Belle had moved the table that had previously held the candles from the night before. A few seconds later, he realized that she couldn't have moved the table because it wasn't even in the room.

He sat up a little on the couch in order to get a better look at his current surroundings. Through the fog of his groggy mind, he realized that he wasn't actually laying on the couch in Sami's apartment but that he had been sleeping on his couch in the loft cuddled up with Belle—the real Belle. He looked down at his body in disbelief and was beyond excited to see his own firm muscles and thick limbs. He was even wearing the same clothes from before the switch. He rubbed his head and felt the short, bristling hair from his most recent haircut. He couldn't believe it. He was back in his own body!

Belle was still sleeping soundly on top of him looking every bit the angel that he thought she was. As reality sank in, he began to wonder if the previous few hours had been a crazy dream. 'That must be it. None of that body-switching crap really happened. He was just having a really odd dream.' He looked around for any sign that his dream had, in fact, happened. Everything looked pretty much the same. He looked back down at Belle and saw that she was still fully clothed. Even though he would love it if Belle came around and gave him a chance, this kind of cuddling seemed more normal.

'Whoa, I must really have it bad for Belle if I'm dreaming about some crazy scenario for us to actually make love.' He didn't really understand what Lucas and Sami had to do with anything but maybe seeing them get engaged and hearing Lucas' comment about two brothers dating two sisters kind of stuck with him. 'I guess I can't complain that I lack an active imagination and including Sami in the whole thing was just icing on the cake.' He even gave himself some credit for incorporating his mother and Celeste in the whole hallucination.

'Wait until Belle hears about this one," he laughed to himself. Of course, he would have to edit some of the more 'racy' moments out of the story but she should get a kick out of it nonetheless. Philip held onto Belle more securely, a little reluctant to wake her up. Sometimes he wished that Belle weren't so clingy because nights like this—being so close to her—were killing him. When he held her like this, he didn't want to let her go. Hopefully, it would pay off someday.

Philip didn't have to worry about waking Belle up because all of a sudden he felt a little movement beneath their blanket. Belle briefly held onto Philip more tightly and then slowly moved her head up to face him. Although her eyes were still closed, she smiled up at him. Philip grinned at the sleepy expression on her face and waited for those beautiful baby blues to focus in on him. He didn't have to wait long as her eyes opened and her smile widened when she saw that he was already awake.

"Good morning," she said leaning her head on his chest. They stared at each other for a few moments and then to Philip's utter surprise, Belle leaned up and kissed his squarely on the lips. He was initially shocked by her actions since he knew their recent closeness had all been in his mind. 'She must not realize what she's doing. Or maybe she's still asleep and she thinks she's kissing Shawn.'

"Maybe, I could get used to this," she murmured as she continued with their liplock. Philip's mind was reeling trying to piece together what was happening with them. But he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth; he was going to kiss his gift horse instead. Philip relished tasting Belle while he had the chance and continued to kiss her back with abandon.

Philip broke their kiss and smiled back down at her. "I think maybe I could too." He stroked her face gently with his fingers and brought his face down for another searing kiss.

* * *

**AT SAMI'S APARTMENT**

Lucas woke up the way that he was always meant to—with Sami in his arms. Well, technically it was Belle in his arms but he wasn't going to quibble about the details at the moment. He could feel her warm body against his and chuckled lightly as he felt her soft breath on his bare chest. It seemed that even in Philip's body, he couldn't stand to sleep with a shirt on.

He opened his eyes and squinted at the blinding light spilling into the room. He quickly turned away from the window that was the main source of the offending light. Sami shifted a little against him but didn't wake. He could tell from her movement that she wasn't wearing anything on the upper part of her body either which was bizarre. They had both clearly been uncomfortable being intimate in their siblings' bodies so why she would take off her clothes was a mystery to him. Besides, she was more used to sleeping in her day clothes since she had a bad habit of falling asleep on her couch. He felt her soft breasts brush against his bare chest and even given their strange situation, he couldn't help but react to it. He wasn't in the least bit attracted to Belle sexually but, he was a guy after all and he was sure that Philip's body didn't mind the closeness one bit.

'Wait, it's morning. If everything went like it was supposed to, I shouldn't be in Philip's body anymore. Please tell me I'm not still sporting a buzz cut and sleeping in a military uniform. The universe or whatever wouldn't be that cruel would it?' Who was he kidding, of course it would. Given the things that had happened with his mom and Victor, Nicole and Eric, Will and Sami—especially with Will and Sami—the past 10 years of his life had proven that the universe could be that cruel and then some. Of course, it had its high points, he thought thinking of all the pleasant memories he had of Sami. He smiled automatically thinking about the highest point of them all, their wonderful son Will.

He instinctively ran his fingers through his hair and was surprised to feel the thickness that he was so used to. He raised his other hand to frantically pull and pat at his full head of hair as he tried to comprehend what was going on.

When his eyes adjusted to the light, he realized that his surroundings were more familiar than he first thought. He saw several candles sitting on the table in front of them and he spotted a pile of clothes that had been strewn carelessly at the foot of the couch. He began to feel sparks of elation build up in him as he hesitantly looked at who it was snuggled against him under the blanket. He looked down and let out a huge sigh of relief as Sami's obviously naked form came into view. He could see her bare back where the blanket had fallen to her waist and only the circle of his arms kept her from being completely exposed.

Lucas smirked feeling comforted by the familiarity of the gesture. 'Well, there's no doubt about what those two kids were up to last night. I guess they were looking for their centers in each others' pants. But if that was their way of trying to right the universe, it seems to have worked,' he thought flexing his arms and legs a little. It definitely felt good to be back in his own body.

He couldn't wait to wake Sami up and share the news with her. Given the suggestive way that Philip and Belle had left them to wake up, he had just the way to get her attention. He couldn't resist the urge to run his hands up her back as he gazed longingly at the wealth of flesh exposed to him. He ran one of his hands through the hair spilling onto her back and he felt her stir and unconsciously grind against his naked body. He returned the gesture and marveled at how, even in her sleep, she managed to bring his body to life—well at least certain parts.

As Sami sleepily turned her head towards him, he greeted her with a soft kiss and felt her smile against his lips. "Good morning, sleepyhead," he drawled kissing her again and caressing her back. As she returned his kiss, he reached a hand underneath the blanket to cup her pert bottom. Sami briefly opened her eyes to him before surrendering to the feel of his hands and his mouth on her.

"Mmmm, this isn't a bad way to wake up at all," she replied and slid her body against his in an attempt to deepen their kiss. She could feel the beginnings of his arousal against her body and it was having the most pleasant effect on her. She was still trying to shake off the remnants of her slumber but she could tell that he was primed and ready to go. "I see you're looking for a repeat of last night."

"Oh yeah," Lucas said without thinking. He continued to kiss Sami along her cheeks and neck while he enthusiastically caressed one of her breasts. He trailed kisses down to her chest and then not so gently grabbed the back of her head to bring her lips back to his mouth. Before she could protest, he maneuvered them so that she now lay underneath him. He continued to devour her mouth as he tried to feel as much of her body with his.

"Whoa," Sami said. "I didn't know you could be so rough." She pulled him closer and whispered into his ear. "I think I kind of like it."

'You aint seen nothing yet, baby,' Lucas thought. Sami usuaally had a mind-numbingly intoxicating effect on him but even with the risk of losing himself in her body, he knew that something was wrong. 'A repeat of last night? What the hell is she talking about? All we did last night was smooch a little and fall asleep. They left the illicit body-switched sex to their siblings. That is unless . . ."

Belle was totally enjoying herself and the feeling of what Philip was doing to her. She was still a little sleepy so she wasn't thinking about being in Sami's body or whether Celeste's advice had worked. She could only focus on what Philip was doing to her body and at the moment, that felt fabulous. He had gotten a bit aggressive; it was quite a change from his previous gentle treatment towards her. However, when he flipped her over and started ravishing her, she couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement and arousal. Maybe it was just her, but Philip seemed to be getting better and better at this. She thought he had been wonderful before but, right now, he was more along the lines of amazing. She couldn't wait to feel him inside of her and from what she could tell, the feeling was mutual.

"Oh, God! This can't be happening!"

Belle jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. She grabbed the edge of the couch which was a good thing since Lucas, for the second time in so many hours, leaped across the room and scurried to get decent. "What's the matter Philip?" She looked down at herself seeing that she was still in Sami's body. "I mean, besides the usual." Lucas appeared not to hear her as he slid his jeans up over his underwear. "Philip, talk to me! What's gotten into you?" Belle was starting to panic at his bizarre behavior.

"Philip . . .Philip? Guess again, Belle." Now at least partially clothed he began to pace back and forth beside the couch. "Why is this happening. Why am I back but Sami's not?" he said more to himself.

The realization that she was not currently talking to Philip hit Belle like a ton of bricks. Lucas could tell that she finally understood what had happened because she turned five shades of red and immediately wrapped the blanket tightly around herself. She looked down and took a small, tentative breath. "Lucas," she responded almost in a whisper. "Not again! I'm so embarrassed."

Lucas stopped his pacing and looked at the body of his fiancée. It was clear from her body language that Belle was mortified. He quickly approached her attempting to do some damage control. After all, he had no desire to hurt her feelings but, he kept his distance from her nonetheless. "Belle, don't be embarrassed. I was there too and truth be told, I think I was a little more . . . enthusiastic. Don't you worry about a thing."

Belle risked a quick glance in his direction but was still too humiliated to look him in the face. "Why are you back in your body but I'm still here?" she said with a little sniffle.

"I have no idea. But then again this whole thing has been one big confusing mess to begin with." He tentatively handed Belle a tissue and she thanked him quietly. "Let's just forget about what happened before. I thought you were Sami and that everything was okay. I'm sure you thought I was Philip."

"Yeah, I did," Belle said a little quickly so there was no mistaking what had happened. She dabbed her eyes and finally had the courage to look at him. "What do we do now? Should we call over there and let them know what's happened?"

Lucas looked at his watch and noted that it was barely 7:00 in the morning. He let out an exasperated breath. "No. Let them sleep a little longer. I don't want to be the one responsible for the rude awakening, especially where Sami's concerned. She'll call when she figures it out." At this point, the two of them were sitting at opposite ends of the couch as far away from each other as possible. "Uh, I guess I'll go take a shower while we wait. I'm sure Philip's an early riser and they'll probably call soon." Lucas knew that they were both extremely uncomfortable and he just wanted to get away from her at the moment. He was happy that Philip and Belle were finally together but waking up like this, after what he knew Philip had been doing in his body, made him yearn for a long, cleansing shower. He had no idea that Belle was still in Sami's body when he had initiated things a few minutes ago but he didn't think the body-switching theory would go over so well in his attempts to avoid burning in Hell.

Belle could tell that Lucas was itching to get away from her and even though it was probably irrational, she was a little put out about the rejection. She knew she wasn't as experienced as Sami but she didn't think she had been that bad. He certainly had reacted to her a few minutes before. Her slight frown didn't escape Lucas' notice as he stood up to walk over to the bathroom. "I'm gonna just use this bathroom, you know, so we don't split up." He headed towards the bathroom and he turned to see that Belle was still sitting quietly, hands in her lap and head bowed. "Look Belle, it's nothing personal or anything, I mean, about what happened before . . . and earlier," he said thinking back to their scene earlier in the night. "It's just that I remember when you were born—both you and Philip. Even though you've grown up into a beautiful woman, I just can't get rid of the image of little Belle with her pigtails and bubblegum."

Belle smiled at him weakly. "I understand Lucas. Despite what you might think, I'm not harboring any lustful thoughts about your body." Although looking at him standing there only in a pair of jeans she thought maybe that might change. It didn't help that she knew for a fact he was quite talented in the bedroom. "Besides, you're an old guy," she said. The shocked expression on his face immediately made her laugh.

"I'm not that old!" he said.

His look of indignation only made Belle laugh even harder. "Come on Lucas, you've got a son who's practically a teenager. You're about to settle down with your family." She walked closer to where he was standing and looked up at him strangely. "Is that a gray hair I see?" she questioned making sure her blanket was securely covering her body.

Lucas ran his hand through his hair in response. "No way! Don't fault me just because I started early with the kids. I'm still young and spry. Just ask Sami," he said with a sly grin. His smile turned a little evil as he apprehensively added, "Actually, you probably don't even need to. Something tells me that you get the idea." He chuckled lightly as Belle's cheeks filled with another stellar blush.

However, Belle surprised him by adding, "Yeah, I kind of got the picture, Lucas." She was still blushing profusely but at least Lucas had joined her. He even had the good sense to look a little embarrassed. 'Serves him right, after the humiliation I've been subjected to in the past five minutes.'

Lucas cleared his throat and snickered nervously. "I'm gonna go jump in the shower really quick. If they call, just knock on the door, okay."

"Okay," Belle said as he retreated to the bathroom and closed the door. Belle returned to the couch and stared at the candles sitting on the table. She absently picked one up and sniffed at it before rolling it between her two hands. She leaned back wondering what she was supposed to do while Philip and Sami slept in.

"This sucks." Belle concluded and threw herself across the couch.


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

**MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE LOFT**

Sami woke up to the feel of Lucas giving her a thorough good morning kiss. She loved kissing him. It was never halfway with him and he could curl her toes even with the quickest of pecks. She ran her hands up to his head and felt the short stubble that reminded her of their situation. She couldn't say that she liked kissing Philip per se, but she might have to get used to it if things didn't turn out well. She felt his hands move up and down her body and could tell from the hardness beneath her that he was getting a bit excited. She wasn't doing much better as she continued to explore his warm mouth with her tongue. "Maybe I could get used to this," she murmured against his mouth.

Lucas' response was to continue groping her. "I think maybe I could too," he replied and grabbed her butt underneath the blanket.

While she enjoyed a good morning kiss as well as the next gal, she had no interest in making out with him while he was in Philip's body. That was just gross. She thought he had felt the same way about making out with her while she was stuck inside Belle. However, he was a guy and they tended to think with their hormones more often than not. She tried to pull away but her lips were caught against his again as Lucas pulled her back to his mouth. Now he was just getting pushy. He should know by now that that wasn't going to fly with her.

She pulled away forcefully and she couldn't ignore the naked lust she saw in his eyes. Sami attempted to smooth her hair out as she leaned back in his lap. "Whoa there cowboy. It looks like someone needs a cold shower." She stretched her arms out over her head dropping the blanket on the floor in the process.

Philip thought Belle was trying to prevent an awkward moment between them but he wanted to show her that he was serious about being with her and that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. She was certainly working wonders with his hormones. For someone who had never had sex before, she was sure doing a number on him. With his hands still on her hips, he lifted himself up and resumed kissing her neck. "I could be up for that as long as you agree to join me." His lips had reached the slight swell of her breasts and he continued kissing her through the thin T-shirt. He warmed to the idea even more when he felt her reach up to put her hands on his chest.

"Ooomph!" That was all he could get out as she pushed him back down against the couch—hard. "You've certainly gotten a lot more aggressive since last night. I kind of like it though."

"Ewwwww!" Sami screamed out and jumped off the couch. "Get your sick mind out of the gutter, General! I was serious about that cold shower."

"Me too," Philip replied. "I like the nickname though. If I'm the General, what does that make you—my own personal new recruit?" he said with a suggestive smile. "I've got a few orders that you might enjoy following." He was starting to like this little game. That was until he felt a balled up blanket hit him in the head.

Sami gave Lucas her most shocked and disgusted look. "You are being so obscene! And you were being so sweet last night. What the hell happened to you. I thought we agreed last night that there would be no hanky panky for a while." Lucas held the world record for speed when it came to pissing her off, hands down. He really could be such an arrogant jerk sometimes.

Philip didn't understand what was going on with Belle. She seemingly went from very hot to cold at an impossible rate. He thought she was just covering up her embarrassment of waking up with him but this was getting ridiculous. He sloppily draped the blanket across the back of the couch. "We never said that! Quite the opposite in fact."

"Don't get technical with me. It was implied. God you are impossible." Sami kicked a pillow that had fallen on the floor, satisfied when it hit Lucas in the shin. "I SO don't need this Lucas. It's bad enough that we're still like . . . this," she said as she gestured angrily at herself.

"What, Lucas?" Philip shouted. "I'm Philip and—" he paused abruptly and looked at the angry woman standing before him. "You're not Belle are you . . . Sami? Oh Man, I thought all that was a bad dream."

Sami really gave him a killer glare and placed her agitated hands on her hips. "This is no dream, you horny little troll. Of course it's Sami." She looked him up and down trying to analyze who was really sitting before her. "Is that really you Philip? Because if it is, you have some explaining to do. I know you and my sister are all hot and heavy now but didn't Lucas warn you to keep your horny little paws off me."

"Hey, I thought you were Belle. I'm sorry." Sami didn't looked convinced as she stood in front of him and crossed her arms in front of her. This only served to piss Philip off. "What's your problem Sami? Were you born angry because all you ever seem to do is yell at me."

"I don't appreciate you insulting me. Excuse me for waking up to who I think is my soon-to-be husband—albeit in your body—and I find you groping me like an teenage boy on prom night."

"Get off your high horse, Princess! So you've got me. You're just so damn irresistible that, putting aside the fact that you are currently in the body of my girlfriend, I intuited that you were really Sami and commenced my plan to finally have my wicked way with you." Sami raised an eyebrow at him and tapped her finger against one of her crossed arms. "Okay, I admit that I perhaps got a little out of control earlier. But come on, I'm just a lowly male who's been waiting FOREVER for your sister to come around." He licked his lips thinking about their encounter from before. "—and you were laying there with all that skin showing, looking all hot and tasty—" Sami was just staring at him stoically. She was secretly flattered that he found her so attractive but she didn't wan to encourage him. Not privy to these thoughts, Philip, was losing patience with her. "Besides, you're the one who started kissing me. I didn't see you complaining, then or—"

"Oh, so Belle's your girlfriend now? Don't even go there Philip. We both know I thought you were Lucas." Backing down a little, Sami let out a big sigh and sat down on the couch. "Philip, I remember changing your diapers for crying out loud. Even if you are a big, strong man now, the thought of getting back into your pants now is just plain disturbing." They both chuckled at the joke. It seved to break the tension a little. "I'm still mad though. Why did you and Lucas switch back but not me and Belle?"

Philip shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Are you sure you were concentrating on the universe hard enough?" he asked with mock suspicion.

"Shut up," she said with a small smile. "We should call over there and see if they're up. No need to let bad news linger."

Philip looked at his watch and saw that it was only a few minutes past 7:00. "Are you sure you don't want to let them sleep a little longer? It's still kind of early."

Sami shook her head and walked over to the phone. "Whatever. Lucas is an early riser and they need to know what's going on. If I have to be miserable in this body then so does everybody else."

'No kidding,' Philip chuckled to himself. "Yeah, Lucas is going to be in for quite a shock when he wakes up on that couch."

Sami picked up the phone and looked over at Philip. "Why is that? What were you two doing when you got home last night?" She got her answer when Philip blushed and looked away. She slammed the phone back down and turned to Philip. "You didn't! Not again. Tell me you two didn't do it on my couch!"

"What," Philip said defensively. "You two do it on the couch all the time. You said so yourself." He could see Sami's anger rising again. He did the only think he could think of to save himself and Belle. He immediately dropped down to his knees and crawled towards her. "Please don't kill us, Sami," he said pleading with her. "You know we're weak."

Sami stared down at Philip as he begged for forgiveness, secretly finding his display pretty funny. "Well, okay, but when I get back into my body—" Her sentence was left hanging as she stood there frozen with her eyes opened as wide as they would go.

When he saw Sami's expression change, Philip quickly got to his feet and grabbed Sami by the shoulders. "Sami, what's wrong! Talk to me." He heard an annoying ringing in his ears and fought to keep from covering them up. He let his head drop as he felt himself getting a little lightheaded. When he looked back up, Sami seemed to be coming around. "Sami are you alright?" he said trying to get her attention.

"Philip," she replied softly looking dazed.

"Here," he said guiding her over to the couch. "Sit down. What's wrong."

"Philip," she repeated. "How did I get here? I was laying on Sami's couch and then I felt all weird and ended up standing here." She looked around and finally her eyes settled on his. She seemed to snap out of her daze and immediately glanced down at herself. "Oh my God! I'm me!" she screamed.

Philip winced at the sound of her shrill scream but a smile quickly spread across his face as he realized that things were getting back to normal. "Is that really you in there, Belle?"

"I think so. I mean, it feels like me. Do I look like me?" Philip nodded and grabbed her hand. He rushed Belle over to the bathroom so she could look in the mirror. Belle gazed at her reflection in wonder and grinned happily. She twirled around to face Philip who was also smiling. "It's good to be me again," she said hugging herself.

Philip couldn't help himself. He put his arms around her and joined her laughter. "It's good to have you back. Your sister was getting a little hard to handle."

Belle laughed and pulled Philip into a hug. "So what else is new. I wonder why it took so long for us to switch back."

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's because me and Lucas switched first. You guys were a little behind so it took a little longer." Philip enjoyed the feel of the real Belle in his arms as he caressed her back. "I do know that now that I've got you back, I'm not going to let you go." He stared lovingly down into her eyes and gave her his most sincere expression.

"Oh Philip, me either." Sensing that he was being a bit shy, she leaned up and kissed him on the lips. It felt different than what they had been used to in the last few hours but it definitely felt better. The desire that coursed through their bodies was the same as it had always been. As their passion increased, Philip picked Belle up in his arms and headed toward his bedroom.

**BACK AT SAMI'S APARTMENT**

"—you two are going to—" Sami fell over into the couch as a wave of dizziness overtook her. For a few seconds, she felt like she couldn't move. When she finally rediscovered some of her motor skills, she looked around in confusion. 'How did I get back here,' she thought. She stared at the candles on the table and a pile of her clothes at the foot of the bed. She then looked down at herself and realized that she was completely naked and wrapped in a blanket.

"Why do I always end up naked?" she exclaimed in an irritated tone. "When I get my hands on Belle, we're going to have a little talk." She stood up and looked around the apartment. "At least, I'm back in my own body—finally." She walked around searching for Lucas but there was no sign of him. His shirt and shoes were still lying on the floor along with her clothes but he wasn't in her bedroom or in Will's room.

She still felt a little disoriented but when she finally cleared her head she realized that the bathroom door was closed. She could hear the water running and figured that Lucas was in their cleansing himself of their siblings' love festivities. She sat back down on the couch and reveled in the feeling of being back in her own body. What a nightmare the past few hours had been! Philip and Belle might have had a little fun while in her and Lucas' body but she saw nothing remotely redeeming about becoming her little sister.

She wondered how long Lucas had been in the shower. As she looked down at her blanket-clad body, she also wondered if he would mind some company. She walked over to the bathroom door and suddenly stopped with her hand on the doorknob. An evil look crossed her face as she stared up at the closed door. She immediately dropped the blanket and walked into the steamy bathroom.

Lucas was almost done cleansing himself of his brother's debauchery when he thought he heard Belle talking in the other room. 'Maybe she's finally cracking up,' he thought. 'I know I'm way past that point.' He rinsed the soap from his body and put his head underneath the stream of water to wash his hair. 'I really missed my hair,' Lucas thought vainly. It was interesting being Philip and all but there was nothing like being back in his own body. "It's good to be me," Lucas said out loud.

"I'll say," he heard a voice from close by. He tried wiping the water from his eyes afraid to confirm who the speaker was. Sure enough, there was Belle standing in front of him, naked as the day—well, naked as the day Sami was born. He quickly grabbed the shower curtain to cover himself in panic.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Lucas yelled. Belle just laughed at his modesty which only served to anger him. "Okay, joke's over. Get out of here. Seriously, you're creeping me out."

Instead of doing as he requested, Sami stepped into the shower with him. "What's the matter, Lucas? Don't you want me?" Lucas looked shocked and frightened at the idea and now he had that pesky Human League song in his head. Sami pushed him back farther into the tub until she was standing under the showerhead. Lucas couldn't help but stare as the steamy water cascaded down her deliciously naked body. She leaned her head back and ran her hands through her hair causing her breasts to practically beg for his touch. He instinctively brought his hands to her waist and made tiny circles across her skin with his thumbs.

Lucas then snatched his hands away like he had been burned. "Belle, this isn't funny. I don't know if you realize this but I am a weak man when it comes to Sami. I know you and Philip had a lot of fun in our bodies but this is going too far."

Sami smiled at the admission. She made sure to lock that statement into her memory. It was sure to be useful later on. "But Lucas, I realized that you could show me so much more. The next time I'm with Philip, I'm going to be back in my own body and I want to make sure that I show him a good time." Sami slid her hand strategically down her body and then reached out for Lucas.

Lucas quickly moved away from her extended arm and put his own arms up in protest. "I'm sure Philip will be happy just being with you Belle. Listen, I'm flattered that you want my help and all but I'm engaged to Sami. Despite what people might think of me, I have no intention of screwing that up by fooling around with someone else."

"But Lucas, look at me," she said running her hands over her body. "I am Sami. You wouldn't have to pretend with me." She smiled as she saw Lucas bite down on his lower lip and follow the path her hand forged across her body.

"Yeah, you explain that to Sami!" He was beginning to get irritated at Belle's actions and was about to tell her so. "Didn't you hear anything I said before? You're like a little kid to me. That's just too weird even if I weren't committed to your sister. Remember her? Sami Brady—world class vengeance seeker and Queen Bee of her own hive of torture."

"Hey, don't talk about her like that," she said with a pout.

"Oh, now you care about her feelings. She'd kill you right along with me, you know. What were you planning on telling her—you slipped in the shower and fell on her fiancee?"

"That sounds good. Or we could use this whole body switching thing to our pleasurable advantage." She took another step towards him.

"You're completely insane!" Lucas shouted in horror.

Sami couldn't resist him anymore. He was so cute when he was in a panic. She leaped on him, put her arms around his neck and planted a wet kiss on his lips. He was so surprised at first that he couldn't do anything but stare at her in shock. "You really know how to talk to a woman, General. That must be why I love you so much." She then gave him an evil but satisfied smile that was classic Sami Brady.

Lucas pulled away from her slightly and looked her in the eye. "Sami, is that you?"

Sami looked away and shrugged one of her shoulders. "Maybe, she replied, stepping away from him and pretending to return to her shower.

"Oh no you don't you little trouble maker," he said turning her around. He laughed as she tried to act as if nothing was wrong. "You are such a bitch. That was so not funny."

"I think it was plenty funny. You should have seen the look on your face, Lucas," Sami said giggling. "I guess that's how you looked when Belle was chasing you all over the loft earlier."

"I thought Belle had lost her mind." He pulled her body closer to him and began to lather her back absently with the soap. He was too happy to have her back to be mad at her. "I thought being in that crazy head of yours had finally gotten to her and driven her insane." She playfully smacked his butt causing a little smile of surprise to cross his face. "So you want to start with that, do you?" he asked returning the favor with a pinch of his own. "Hopefully, my little brother behaved himself this time."

She frowned slightly and moved his wet hair from his eyes. "He was a little better. I can't say the same for him last night after we left Celeste's house."

"Tell me about it," Lucas spat out. "Those two were out of control." He pushed her back under the water to wash the soap off. "Not like us. We have an incredible amount of self-control." To prove how much self-control he had, he pressed his lips to the now very wet skin of her neck.

Sami ran her hands up and down Lucas' back and then grabbed a handful of his hair. "Oh yeah, you're the epitome of self-control there, General." She pulled his head back and attacked his lips in a fierce kiss.

Lucas couldn't help but notice how good it was to feel her body so close to his again—the real Sami's body. When she kissed him, he knew that things were getting back to normal.

"I was just making sure it's really you. Maybe Belle's a better actress than I thought." Sami pulled slightly away and gave him a stern look. She brought her hand from his back and trailed it across his chest before sliding it down between their bodies to catch his growing arousal in her grasp. "I'll show you who's really here," she said. Lucas gasped as Sami stroked him like only she could.

Lucas sighed into her mouth and kissed her again. "Color me convinced Sami. Now why don't we start getting reacquainted." He pushed her back against the shower wall.

"It certainly is good to be back," Sami said before succumbing to Lucas' passionate embrace.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: Why not just make it an even twenty chapters is what I say. Actually, I just got a bit too chatty and yet again, I had to split this chapter into two separate ones. So there's one more on the way waiting in my document manager to be edited. I apologize for the long wait but I'm blaming the delay on a particularly evil bottle of wine and the fact that I just got cable. **

**lol--'General' is one of Sami's old nicknames for Lucas from when they were younger. I think that's what she called Lucas because he was always in his military school uniform. She still calls him that every once in a while which is always a treat.**

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

Lucas was alternating his glare between the menu in front of him and the door to the restaurant. He tapped his finger impatiently on his water glass and finally dropped his menu on the table. He leaned back in his chair with a dramatic sigh and looked at his watch for the fiftieth time in the last two minutes. Sami simply watched him calmly as she stirred her coffee. She took periodic sips between Lucas' rants.

"If they don't get here in the next thirty seconds, I'm just going to order without them. This is ridiculous!" He looked at his watch yet again and crossed his arms in a huff.

Sami couldn't help but grin at his impatience. That was supposed to be her signature character trait. "Lucas, they're only a few minutes late. Remember, we got here early." She was totally unperturbed when he directed his restless glare at her. She decided to ignore him and took another sip of her coffee.

"I thought Little Ms. Perfect and the Boy Scout would have no problem arriving on time." At the sound of the door opening, he quickly turned towards the front of the restaurant and scowled in disappointment. "Sami, I'm starving!" he whined. "I can't even explain to you the levels of hunger pulsing through my body right now."

Sami made a face at his grouchy tirade. Now she knew where Will got his whining from. "And you call me a drama queen? You had a bowl of cereal not even half an hour ago. Stop exaggerating. They'll be here soon."

"I'm a big, strong guy. It takes a lot to sustain my energy levels—especially trying to keep up with you," Lucas replied with a wink.

"Don't you dare blame this on me. If I remember correctly, my playing around wasn't what kept us in the shower until the hot water ran out."

Lucas grinned and leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Maybe not, but you were certainly the one screaming for more—over and over again if I recall correctly." He made sure to squeeze her thigh meaningfully under the table. His grin widened when he felt her shiver at the memory and his touch.

"You got me there," she replied and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "But stop trying to change the subject. The point is that you're acting like a child. Maybe Philip and Belle were getting reacquainted with their bodies too and they're running a little late." Sami laughed thinking about those two bumbling around with their raging hormones.

Maybe it was the hunger talking but Lucas wasn't feeling particularly accommodating of their siblings' initiation into the funhouse of fornication. "What the hell do they have to get reacquainted with? Belle's still technically a virgin and as far as I know, Philip hasn't gotten so much as an accidental grope. It should take all of ten minutes for them to get reacquainted. And let us not forget that he even has a full tank of gas to get here on too."

"Stop pouting, Lucas. You're worse than Will. If you're so hungry why don't you just order something and shut the hell up. You're seriously working a nerve over here. If we're going to see Will at camp today, I don't want you spoiling things with your bad attitude." Lucas thought that was rich coming from her but kept quiet about that point. It was strange to him how much he had changed since falling in love with Sami. The old Lucas would have called her out about her bad attitude and the numerous occasions where she had wreaked havoc with it. But loving her as he did meant that he had to act above that kind of pettiness--especially when he knew she was so much better than that.

Plus, she did have a point that he didn't want anything to spoil their day with Will. They were too excited about their good news to keep it from Will so they had decided to tell their son the news in person. The fact that it would take them away from Salem for a little while was a perk of the whole deal.

"I was just trying to be nice so we could order together. You don't have to get all bitchy about it." He tried to playfully peek around her menu but she snapped it back in place before he could pull it down. "Maybe we should order you something right now. It sounds like the hunger is getting to you too," he said grinning.

Sami finally dropped her menu and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You are impossible. It's a good thing you're cute or you'd be out the door."

"I thought it was my winning personality and excellent genes. But now that you mention it, I am pretty cute aren't I?"

Sami snickered at his assessment. "I forgot to mention your modesty too. In deference to certain siblings of yours and the truce I made with your mother, I'll refrain from commenting on the value of your gene pool. But I will say, that it's a good thing that Will takes after me."

Lucas was about to protest when a third voice entered the conversation. "What were saying about Lucas' siblings Sami?" Philip asked from behind her. While the two of them had been bickering, he and Belle had finally arrived and were about to sit down. Philip leaned down to give Sami a kiss on the cheek but thought better of it when he felt the flesh-melting glare Lucas sent him. However, both Sami and Lucas were breathing a sigh of relief at their arrival albeit for different reasons.

"Well, Philip, while Lucas was telling me about his more redeeming qualities, I was saying how it was such a shame certain members of his gene pool couldn't be as punctual as he is." Lucas grinned at Sami and shoved menus in Philip and Belle's direction. "It's a good thing you got here when you did. I was afraid Lucas was going to chew off a digit."

As if to prove the point, Lucas grabbed Sami's hand and playfully nibbled on her ring finger making her giggle in response. "Tell me about it," he replied. He pulled Sami's finger from his lips but kept their hands intertwined on the table top. "Seriously, guys, I'm starving. What took you two so long?" He gave them a sly, knowing look. "Or do I even want to know?"

Belle turned slightly red with embarassment. "It wasn't anything like that. We were just running late—"

"—what she means," Philip interrupted, "is that she took five years to get ready and we ended up running late. She was in the bathroom forever checking herself out."

"Philip!" Belle exclaimed imploring him to keep his observations to himself.

Philip wouldn't be censored though. "You should have seen her. She kept standing there looking at herself and brushing her hair. You'd think she had just switched bodies with her sister or something." He laughed lightly at his stupid joke but stopped pretty quickly when he saw that no one else was amused.

Belle gave his arm a girlish push looking even more embarrassed. "I was just happy to be back in my own body. I wanted to make sure that it was real. Besides, you're the one who went back to sleep after you got off the phone with them." She looked back across at Sami and Lucas to explain. "He's the one who you talked to and he didn't bother to make sure I was fully awake when he told me we were having brunch. So of course, he goes back to sleep for another half an hour and then blames me when we're late." She shook her head at Philip and gave him a disapproving look.

"Whatever," Philip said picking up his menu. "Anyway, I'm sure you two wasted no time doing the nasty this morning. You probably jumped each others' bones the second you realized you were both in your own bodies." He concentrated on the menu seeming uninterested in hearing about his brother's sex life.

"Well, we don't have to answer that seeing as how we weren't the ones who were late. Besides, we're engaged. We can have sex whenever and wherever we want." Sami said.

"Not according to the Catholic church," Belle added helpfully and casually perused her menu.

Sami grimaced at her sister's accurate, nonetheless irritating comment. "Details, details," she said under her breath. She snapped her menu closed and stared at Lucas. "Since you're SO hungry, what are you having?"

Lucas chose to ignore her sharp tone since he knew she was annoyed by Belle's comment and not by him—for a change. "I'm having the steak sandwich with fries and a salad," he answered quickly having had a lot of time to think about it. He focused his attention on Philip and Belle thinking about their bizarre switcharoo. "I don't know about you guys but because of our unfortunate adventure of the past few hours, I think, for a while, I'm going to be making sure it's Sami I'm kissing before I let things get too far." Lucas motioned the server over to their table, anxious to get his order in.

Belle put her menu down and laughed in Lucas' direction. "That might be a problem at your wedding when the priest says, 'you may kiss the bride.' I can just imagine you at the alter trying to figure out if the woman standing next to you is really Sami." Philip and Sami joined in her laughter at the mental picture.

"Yeah, the woman in the gorgeous wedding dress, right Belle," Sami added.

"Right. I wonder how much I should charge, Daddy for my creation." Belle said while doing the calculations in her head. Both women laughed at the idea while the men ignored their 'girl talk.'

"Oh good, you're all here," the server said cheerfully. She pulled out her notepad and pointed her pen at Lucas. "I was a little worried about this one." Sami laughed even harder giving Lucas an 'I told you so' look.

"Hey, as long as we're all clear how hungry I am right now." He gave his order to the server and leaned back in his chair to wait for his meal.

"What's the soup of the day?" Philip asked.

"Minestrone. It's made from scratch and delicious!"

"Does that have celery in it because I hate celery?" Philip said scowling. "Could I have mine without celery?"

"I don't think so, sweetie." The server gave Philip the look she reserved for picky customers who were intent on giving her problems.

"Okay. Do you have a special low-carb menu?" he asked hopefully. Everyone else groaned at Philip's ridiculous obsession with nutrition.

The server began tapping her pencil on her notepad. "What you see is what you get, hon."

"Alright then," Philip answered clearly annoyed. What kind of establishment was this? Who didn't have low-carb these days? "I'll have the chicken breast sandwich on a whole wheat roll with a side of sprouts, no mayonnaise. Instead of the fries I'd like the soup of the day—with celery, I guess—and with that I'd like a small side of cheese and a few crackers. Oh, and can I have some water with no ice please." Philip said handing her his menu.

The server wrote everything down and turned to Belle clearly happy to be done with Philip. "What can I get for you, little lady."

Belle pretended to look over her menu again. "I'll have a cheeseburger," she replied. She then stole a look towards Philip and changed her mind. "On second thought, I think I'll have the garden salad with low-fat dressing and water please."

Philip gawked at Belle like she had grown two heads. "A salad? Please, Belle, don't get all girly on my account. I've seen you slurp down a whole cow without a second thought."

"Well, maybe I'm just trying to be healthy," Belle said.

"We've known each other all our lives! Not only have I seen you free-base various chocolate products on a daily basis, but over the course of our platonic relationship, I've seen you eat everything from dirt to those horrible vending machine pastry snacks. Trust me, there's nothing that would surprise or disgust me at this point. Just because we're 'dating,'" he said finger-quoting and glancing meaningfully over at Sami, "doesn't mean you have to go all cliché on me."

"Sooorrrryyyy," Belle mocked. "Fine, I'll have the cheeseburger, medium rare. Are you satisfied?"

"Yes, thank you." He leaned over and kissed her quickly on the lips.

Sami and Lucas just ignored the two showing little interest in their tiff. "Aren't you glad we skipped all that dating stuff," Lucas said.

"Yeah," Sami responded. "Having sex when we were friends, being teenage parents, and acting like a divorced couple before falling in love and getting hitched seemed to work for us."

"Exactly." Lucas said. "Now what are you having?" he asked pointing towards their server who was waiting on her with professional interest.

"Mmmmm, I think I'll have a short stack of pancakes, two eggs scrambled with bacon and fruit and a side-order of home fries. And I would also like a glass of orange juice, please—and when you get the chance, could I get more coffee?"

"Certainly," their server answered scribbling down the order before reaching for their menus.

Sami grabbed her menu back and glanced quickly at the breakfast items again. "Oh, I almost forgot. Could you bring me a couple of those homemade biscuits and maybe a half-order of cornbread?"

"Sure!" the server exclaimed. "Now that's what I call breakfast."

Three sets of eyes stared at Sami in disbelief. "Are you sure that's enough food for you Sami?" Philip joked.

Sami shrugged. "Like Lucas said, we're hungry and you guys were late." She downed the last of her coffee and leaned back in her chair. "And to answer your question, I'm sure that's enough. If it's not, I'll just eat Lucas' coleslaw since it comes with his sandwich and I know he doesn't like it."

"You're going to be sick, Sami," Belle said. "I'm glad you're not ingesting that in my body."

"You're not the only one," Sami threw back.

"Speaking of which, you two could have picked a more comfortable place to camp out," Philip said rubbing his neck. "My neck is killing me from sleeping on that couch."

"You'll get over it," Lucas replied. "Besides, I think you're hardly one to complain about what I was doing in your body."

Philip threw his hands up, clearly annoyed. "I knew it wouldn't take long before you brought that up. I've got three words for you bro—Let. It. Go."

Lucas waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "What I want to know is why me and you switched first both times."

Philip appeared to be deep in thought as he tried to come up with an answer. "Maybe it was some kind of genetic locator thing and it only works for two people at a time."

"Or there might have been some kind of time lag with whatever it was that caused us to switch," Lucas added.

"I don't know about all that guys but maybe it was the universe at work like Celeste said," Belle jumped in.

They all sat at the table pondering their various theories. However, Sami wasn't in the least bit interested in dissecting their experience. "Maybe it was aliens, or maybe Stefano DiMera is alive and came up with a device that switches bodies." She lowered her voice as if her next words were of the utmost importance. "Maybe we're all being manipulated by higher beings who dictate our very existence through the magic of glorified word processing." No one at the table appeared to appreciate her sarcasm. "Excuse me if I'm the only sane person here but, the whole situation defies logic. We aren't some kind of science fiction think tank. I don't think any amount of brainstorming is going to adequately explain what happened to us."

Lucas sighed to himself. "I guess you're right but I can't help wanting to know why."

"Who knows why anything happens in our lives, darling," a voice answered behind him. The four occupants of the table looked up to see their ally Celeste standing by them looking refreshed and striking, as usual. "I take it things are back to normal for the four of you, no?"

They all looked around a little uncomfortable and embarrassed about their predicament. They had been understandably panicked when they last spoke to her and in the light of day it all seemed rather silly. "We're doing great," Belle stammered out.

"We're definitely feeling more like ourselves," Philip added. They all snickered uneasily at his bad choice of words.

Celeste simply smiled at them. "So you followed my instructions last night?" All four looked at each other guiltily as they tried to find the least offensive way to answer her truthfully. They all began speaking at once attempting to give their enthusiastic assent. Celeste was no fool though. To her, their answers indicated that they hadn't done what she asked at all. That was alright, since she kind of gave them the advice off the top of her head anyway. She briefly closed her eyes as if concentrating on something really hard. When she re-opened them, she seemed relaxed and convinced of something. "Now all is balanced with the forces around you. The Universe has been made right."

They didn't really know what Celeste was talking about or what kind of instrument you used to measure the balance of 'the forces' but they felt better hearing from her that all was right in the world again. "That sounds like a good thing," Lucas said tentatively.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks for your help Celeste. We really appreciate it. Right guys?" Sami hinted to the others at the table. Celeste was then accosted with various words of thanks and appreciation. She was a bit taken aback at first but she composed herself quickly.

"It was my pleasure. Well, I'll leave you to your meal." They said their words of goodbye and she glided away gracefully.

"Do you think she caught on that we didn't really do anything she asked us to last night?" Not in least bit experienced at lying but very conscious of her reputation, Belle looked a little worried.

"What makes you think we didn't hold up our end of the bargain? For all you know, we're the ones who picked up the slack for your sorry asses. Come on, unless aligning the forces involved playing peek-a-boo with your genitals, we all know what you two were actually concentrating on last night." Both Sami and Lucas snickered at her comment.

Belle and Philip were extremely annoyed at Sami and Lucas' constant ribbing about their having sex in their bodies. If they hadn't felt so guilty about the whole thing, they would have said more to defend themselves. "Hasn't the line of humor gotten old yet?" Philip asked.

"No," Lucas replied.

"Not at all," added Sami. "In fact, I think I have a few more left for later." Lucas and Sami continued to laugh at their siblings. Philip looked like he had something to say about that but Belle just ignored them.

Their food arrived a few minutes later and not a moment too soon judging by Lucas' suspicious eyeing of the sugar packets. Sami had to stop him from inhaling his food and choking. "Lucas, slow down, you're going to choke. Geez, it's like I've got two children."

"For the umpteenth time, I am really hungry." The expression on her face showed that she didn't appreciate him answering her with his mouth full. "Sorry," he said wiping his mouth with his napkin.

Philip, on the other hand, was busy picking the celery out of his soup. "So Belle, how's the burger?"

"Delicious, thanks." She took another big bite thankful that he had talked her out of getting the salad. She was about to ask him if he was finished fixing his soup but when she glanced over at him, she saw that he had moved to dressing his sandwich. Of course, he had made the poor server bring him more onions and some low-fat dressing, which he was applying at the moment.

"Would you just eat the damn thing, Philip. We're all going to be done with our meals and happily digesting by the time you take your first bite." Lucas, for his part, was completely done with his salad and was trying to ease his pace on the sandwich and fries.

"I have to have it just right or it'll be gross. If you want to worry about something why don't you keep an eye on that woman of yours. She's in for a world of heartburn eating all that food in front of her. It'll take at least a week to digest all that." He looked over at Sami's buttery eggs and pancakes drenched in syrup and cringed thinking about what it was doing to her arteries. Sami returned his stare and shoved a forkful of food in her mouth making a show of how good it was and how much she was enjoying it.

Lucas and Belle laughed at the two. They were all obviously enjoying their brunch and were glad that they had decided to get together. The constant bickering between the four of them was lighthearted and comfortable—a dynamic they hadn't experienced in a while given the sad times they had lived through recently. It just proved that when times got rough, it really did help to be close to family. But then again . . .

"Well isn't this cozy," came a snarky, grating voice from behind Philip and Belle. They all looked up to see Kate hovering over their meal looking like death warmed over.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: Well, that's the story. I'm gonna be in a world of hurt at work tomorrow but I'm glad I finally got this done. Of course, the last chapter is of epic lengths because I just couldn't shut up. Thanks for reading and I hope I gave you a worthy ending for your time spent indulging my silliness. **

**Much love to all my reviewers--Katy, Kayla, MahoganyMiss and lol. Thanks for the feedback! I'll get the first chapter of that sequel up by the end of the week.**

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

Kate looked like she had gotten into a fight with her wine bottle with the bottle being the definitive winner. She had huge bags under her eyes and her hair was haphazardly shoved into a sloppy bun. Apparently she wasn't too messed up since she seemed to exert plenty of energy shooting daggers in Sami's direction.

Sami contentiously returned the evil stare and reached for her coffee. She dropped her fork next to her half eaten pancakes causing a dramatic clanging sound. "Well, Philip, it looks like you don't have to worry about me eating all of this food since I've conveniently lost my appetite." Lucas frowned and gave her the 'don't make trouble look.'

"Hi Mom," Philip replied. "What brings you out here?"

Kate guided her attention to her son, offering him a pinched smile. "I was just out running some errands when I looked in the window and noticed this lovely little domestic display." Her off-handed sentiment came out sounding like bitter sarcasm which wasn't going to win her any fans at the table. "It's lovely to see you here with Belle," she said a little too conspicuously for his liking. "Hello sweetheart," she said to Lucas giving him a kiss on the cheek. Finally, with a forced smile and clenched fists she reluctantly acknowledged her future daughter-in-law. "Sami," she replied barely able to contain the utter contempt she felt for the woman. Although she had promised Lucas she would be civil, he didn't have the power to stop the evil thoughts she harbored about her long-time enemy. 'Actually, I would be more than happy to run into my children under normal circumstances. Too bad their little party includes that conniving slut who is intent on worming her way into my family,' Kate thought to herself.

"Kate," Sami responded with equal enthusiasm. Even though she was willing to bite her tongue for Lucas' sake, it didn't mean she couldn't still harbor hateful thoughts for Kate—especially when she was standing in front of her looking so sanctimonious. 'Looks like you had a bad night. I guess the ice cream coupled with a nice round of playing the nosy, meddling bitch didn't work to lift your spirits.' To Sami's delight, she actually didn't have to do anything to aggravate Kate on this particular occasion. Her antics from the night before were enough to elicit a few snide comments from her sons.

Surprisingly, it was Philip who struck the first blow. "Mom, you look terrible. Didn't you get any sleep last night?" He snapped his fingers and looked around in mock confusion. "Oh, that's right, you were too busy getting into my business to get some sleep." Just because he had been in Lucas' body when his mother decided to pop up at his apartment unannounced looking to interfere, didn't mean that she was going to get off the hook.

"What did 'she' and Lucas tell you? I only stopped by really quick to, uh, drop something off to Belle for work."

Belle was still amused at having told her off a few short hours ago so she had no qualms about giving Kate a hard time. "Uh, Kate, you had snacks and a movie with you. Plus, it was like one o'clock in the morning."

"God Lucas, I didn't know you shared every little detail of your life with your brother. As a matter of fact Belle, I did not have snacks and a movie with me. I don't know what Sami told you but it's obviously a lie. Why would I want to hang out with the two of you in the middle of the night. I mean, really!" None of them were buying her attempts to lie her way out of the situation. Kate figured she should move on and focus on something else. "I thought you'd be awake after eating all of those M&M's last night, Belle? I bet all that sugar kept you up for quite a while." She laughed nervously trying to get back into Philip and Lucas' good graces.

Sami had resumed eating her food despite Kate's presence and almost chuckled thinking about the M&M incident at the gas station. She wasn't going to let that wicked witch ruin her yummy meal. 'Maybe you stopped by because you are a lonely, pathetic hag who can't leave your kids alone for two seconds.' Sami appeared to be enjoying her food so as not to give away to Lucas the tenor of her evil thoughts about Kate.

Belle idly picked up a french-fry and popped it in her mouth. "Um, I don't know. I don't even like M&M's."

"Yeah, she's more of a Skittles kind of girl." Belle smiled at Philip, thinking it cute that he knew her favorite candy. Kate looked at the two in confusion and was about to ask them about their scene at the gas station until Lucas quickly intervened.

"Mom, of course, I don't tell Philip the details of my life but when I know you're meddling in his affairs, I try to give him the heads up." Although he wanted to back his brother up, he was having a hard time concentrating on the conversation and keeping an eye on Sami at the same time. You had to be careful with her since she could blow up at any minute, especially when it came to his mother.

"I'm tired of dealing with you two. I'm glad that you're bonding over your lovely little brunch. I'm sure my invitation was accidentally forgotten in the last minute planning. I'll try not to take it personally." Philip and Lucas just rolled their eyes. "I saw that. You're not too old to be reprimanded for being disrespectful. Maybe you've conveniently forgotten but I sacrificed so much to give you what—"

Both sons groaned as they waited for the customary guilt trip to play itself out. While the men were distracted, Sami decided to add her usual insult to injury. "—you know Kate," she said interrupting the endless flow of blubbering, maternal nonsense, "we thought we 'young' people would get together over brunch and bond. Of course you're welcome to join us." Kate's shock at Sami's invitation was evident as she stood there open-mouthed and speechless. She couldn't believe that her arch nemesis would be more considerate than her own flesh and blood.

"Uh, that's a very . . . unexpected . . ." Kate couldn't even find the right words to respond to her.

Sami beamed as she reveled in Kate's discomfort. Although it was fun tormenting her, she had serious doubts that she could keep her food down if she was forced to share a meal with the mother-in-law from Hell. "Pull up a chair Katie. We were just discussing how beautiful our wedding is going to be. I can't seem to stop talking about how perfect my life is going to be once Lucas and I tie the knot. Will, Lucas and I are going to be a family for the rest of our lives. That means that we're going to be together forever and ever and—"

Kate waved her hands in front of her as if she were warding off a swarm of killer bees. "I get the picture, Sami," she spat out. Composing herself, she added, "Thank you for your generous offer but I think I'm going to be on my way."

"Oh, what a shame. Well, goodbye, see you later, ciao—"

"Okay. That's enough, Sami," Lucas said even though he was silently relieved that his mother was leaving. "I'll call you later, Mom."

"Me too," Philip echoed. Belle simply waved being the only one more interested in her food rather than in the conversation with Kate. Kate looked at the four of them suspiciously and then walked briskly out of the restaurant shaking her head as she went.

"That was fun," Sami said toying with a piece of fruit before popping it in her mouth.

"You would think so," Philip snorted.

"Yeah, that's why I said it." Sami rolled her eyes at Philip and returned to her food. "Although I have to admit that driving her nuts was a lot funnier when I was in Belle's body. You should have seen Kate when I started gushing about the wedding. I thought she was going to implode." Sami simulated a mini-explosion with her hands and made a loud explosion sound as she laughed at her own, personal mental image. Belle giggled as well, picturing the same thing happening during her encounter with Kate.

Lucas leaned over and tried to steal some food from Sami since he had finished his meal a long time before. Sami was quick to slap his hand away but not before he snagged a piece of bacon from her plate. "So that's what had her so steamed when I came back from the gas station store. And it explains why you looked so smug."

"Yeah, among other things. I'm telling you that woman needs a hobby or something." Sami decided not to protest when Lucas picked up his fork and started helping himself to her pancakes. She was getting a little full and he knew it.

"I think she just needs a vacation. I tried to tell her as much last night but she bit my head off," said Belle. Sami gave her a knowing look.

"Belle, I didn't see you having any problem biting back," Philip exclaimed. Sami looked over at her sweet little sister with surprise. "You were obviously out of control. I'm sure it was because of some innate, biological function of Sami's body."

Belle couldn't believe such an incredulous statement had come out of Philip's mouth. She really didn't want to open up this particular can of worms but she didn't think that he was being fair at all. "I was out of control? Your mother was the one who showed up at your apartment in the middle of the night with every intention of butting into our business. Did you hear her lame pretext? You know, I'm starting to think that your mother is a little off, if you know what I mean."

"I think you two have gotten the final taste of being me and Sami if you're fighting about Mom." Lucas and Sami casually switched plates and Lucas began polishing off Sami's pancakes while Sami picked at Lucas' coleslaw. "Whatever Belle said, I don't think it had anything to do with being in Sami's body. I know it sounds crazy but there was once a time, long, long ago where Mom and Sami actually got along."

Sami looked thoughtfully down at her new plate thinking about how long ago that seemed. It was like they were two completely different people back then. So much had happened throughout the years and things had gone too far for them to ever return to anything resembling their former relationship. "Ancient history," Sami said with conviction. "I'm curious, what did you say to her Belle?"

Belle told her and Lucas the story with an irritated Philip keeping silent throughout. Sami then told her and Philip about what happened at the gas station. Even Philip laughed a little when she explained how she gave Kate and Lucas the slip using the M&M's as her accomplice.

After hearing about what happened, Philip asked, "What exactly happened between you two? I know most of the story about Austin and Carrie and the situation with Will but that doesn't explain everything about how you got to this place where you can't even stand the sight of each other."

"I've always wondered too," Belle chimed in. "I guess we were too young to know what was going on when all that stuff happened but I've always been curious about it too."

Lucas could see the rapid shift in Sami's mood from happy and carefree to restless and brooding. He focused his attention on her knowing how quickly things could get ugly for both of them when it came to that subject. Sami had so many thoughts running through her mind. She thought of her obsession with Austin that led to so many betrayals finally leading to one of the most painful memories in her life. She thought of how she had wronged both Lucas and Will by not being honest from the beginning and by trying to keep father and son apart for so long. Deep down, she had no illusions about how difficult she had made things between her and Lucas. But Kate, that was another story. Sami may hate Kate to her core and want her destroyed but actual murder was way beyond anything Sami realistically contemplated. However, it seemed that Kate had no problem with trying to kill her—several times—and for that, Sami would never, ever let her guard down around her even for Lucas. Being civil for the sake of him and her son was as far as she was willing to go. But these things weren't for Belle to know. It was quite clear that she and Kate hated each other but Belle and Kate had a different kind of relationship. Plus, she didn't particularly want to reveal the extent of her own treachery over the years. The actual details of Kate's evil nature and her own mistakes were something she wanted to spare her kind, innocent sister.

Sami tried smiling over at Belle, but it was forced and unconvincing. "Belle, honey, I don't really want to talk about that. Can't we just finish enjoying our brunch? Why don't you tell me about how school's going?" Belle looked a little disappointed but she could tell that it was an extremely unpleasant subject for her and this wasn't the place to discuss it.

Philip could tell that Sami didn't want to talk about it too but he really did want to know. Maybe the whole experience between the four of them would help them come clean about their past with his mother. "I'm sure it's a hard thing to talk about but it would really help us understand your relationship." Philip looked back and forth between his brother and the woman that had caused so much trouble in both his brother's life and his mother's life. They had both stopped eating and Lucas had put his arm protectively around Sami. Philip turned his attention to Sami and continued. "You and Lucas were enemies for a long time too but you managed to put the past behind you and look what's happened. Why can't the same thing happen for you and Mom? That's not such a hard thing to ask."

Lucas didn't even know where to begin explaining what had happened with Sami and his mother. There were too many schemes and too much backstabbing over the years to even touch the tip of the iceburg. How could he ever explain what had happened in Italy—especially the role that Victor played in all of it. How could he explain what happened with Franco and how disastrously far it had gone. God, he couldn't imagine having that conversation with Sami even anywhere in the room. "Maybe it is too much to ask, Philip," Lucas said rubbing Sami's arm gently in his embrace. "We've all done some terrible things to each other over the last few years but now we're trying to move on from that." Lucas lifted his head from where it rested against Sami's and softly kissed her on the forehead. "Personally, I'm just happy she's forgiven me and allowed me to love her. Everything else will work itself out." Sami gazed at him with gratitude and he knew the feeling was entirely mutual. He let Sami go and returned his attention to Philip and Belle. "Why don't we just let it go, guys, okay?"

"Sure," Belle said looking at Philip meaningfully. She knew they shouldn't have gone there but maybe someday, when some of the old wounds had healed, they would get the whole story.

Sami let out a huge sigh. "Talk about a buzzkill," she said lightly. "Why don't we get the check and get out of here." She finally threw her napkin across her plate in surrender and gave her brunchmates the brightest smile she could muster. "Lucas and I have a little gift for you and we've got to do some things before we head out to see Will."

Philip and Belle were glad the tension had lifted among them. "Are you sure you can move after eating all that food," Philip joked.

Sami smiled at Philip and shrugged her shoulder. "It was a little close for a while. I mean, with your mother showing up, I got a little nauseous there for a minute but I think I'll manage. Besides, if there's a problem then Lucas can just carry me, right sweetheart?"

"Of course, honey. I'll give you a piggyback ride all the way to the car. You can just hop on my back and we'll hit the road." Sami giggled and thought that she might take him up on his offer. Lucas signaled the server again and made a gesture requesting the check. The server nodded with a broad smile and scurried away to comply.

"What kind of present do we get?" Belle asked practically jumping up and down in her seat. "I love presents! Is it for both of us or did you get us something separately? Is it big? Did you bring it with you?"

Philip put his hand on her shoulder to still her excited gestures. "Calm down, Belle. Take a deep breath." He laughed while she followed his instructions with excitement still in her eyes. "That's nice of you guys. I can't wait."

Sami and Lucas smiled enigmatically and with amusement. "You'll see. You'll have to wait until you get home to open it but all in good time," Lucas hinted. "Besides, it's the least we could do after you pay for our meals." Philip gave him a questioning look and was about to protest. However, Lucas added, "How did you get here again? It must have been nice not having to stop for gas when you were already running so incredibly late." His classic smirk was painted triumphantly across his face. Philip grinned back and reluctantly pulled out his wallet.

With the check so generously paid by Philip, they left the restaurant feeling full and satisfied. They all agreed that they should get together more often and hang out. Philip wasn't parked very far so Lucas and Sami followed them over to the nearby parking lot to say their goodbyes. Sami gave Belle a big hug and quickly caressed her sister's cheek. "I guess, it wasn't so bad being you for a little while. I had forgotten what it was like to have people be nice to me even if it was only stupid, old Kate. And I guess, it's not so bad being nice to people who call you in the middle of the night asking to borrow your car."

Belle laughed and grabbed her hand. "Yeah, it has its perks, sometimes. You should give it a try." She looked down quickly and then returned her gaze back to her sister. "I really am sorry about . . . you know. We didn't mean to offend you or anything. But it was a really beautiful experience and I'm glad that you were there for me—indirectly, you know."

Sami smiled warmly back at her sister and stroked her hair. "It's okay Belle, really. We're just teasing you," she said pointing over at Lucas too. "I'm glad your first time was with someone like Philip and that it was something you both enjoyed."

"Thanks Sami," Belle replied and gave her another hug.

"Save some for me," Lucas said and moved to hug Belle too. "Just make sure you watch where you're putting your hands," he joked. Belle laughed at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Don't worry. It'll be hard but I'll try to behave myself," Belle said. "Now where's our present?" Lucas winced at Belle's squeal. She was obviously excited about the surprise so he looked over in Sami's direction to see if she was ready to go get the gift from his car. He was just in time to see Philip with his arm loosely around Sami as he chastely kissed the top of her head. He quickly dropped his arm and looked away when he met Lucas' scowl. "Luuucaaaas," Belle whined tugging his arm. "Present . . . surprise . . . remember? Where is it?"

Sami pulled Lucas towards his car a few feet away. "Yeah, come on Lucas. I want to get on the road so we can see Will and tell him the good news." Lucas allowed himself to be dragged over to their car anxious to get rolling as well.

"Alright, alright. Keep your pants on . . . for now." He smirked over at her and unlocked the door. He pulled the big box from the back seat and headed back over to Philip and Belle. Of course, Sami wasn't volunteering to carry the box insisting that she was strictly the navigator, especially if he wouldn't let her drive.

Belle and Philip looked a little surprised at the big package but both were curious what could be inside. "I can't wait to open it! Can we have a hint about what it is?" Belle asked.

"No clues!" Lucas stated. "And don't even think about opening it before you get home—it'll ruin the poignancy of it."

"God forbid," Philip said laughing at Lucas. "When did you learn a word like 'poignancy,' much less use it in real life." He took the box from Lucas and went to put it in the back seat of his car.

"Enjoy kids! We're off," Sami said walking away with Lucas on her arm. "You can thank us later," she threw back.

"Those two are so weird sometimes. Why can't they just tell us what it is? I bet it's not even that 'poignant' and Lucas is just being melodramatic." Philip pushed the box farther into the car and almost hit his head backing out due to Belle's excited squeal. "What was that for?" Philip said backing out of the car completely. He followed the finger that Belle was pointing in the direction Sami and Lucas had gone. She had stars in her eyes gazing at the adorable scene in front of them.

Lucas and Sami were several feet away headed towards some of the shops on the other side of the restaurant. All of a sudden, Lucas helped Sami up onto one of the benches lining the walkway and she seemed to be arguing with him playfully about something. Lucas then turned his back to her and grabbed for her legs as Sami wrapped her arms around his neck. Before they knew it, he had lifted her up and they were walking away with Sami on his back. Lucas stumbled down the walkway and they were both giggling like children as Lucas gave Sami her piggyback ride. As they turned the corner, Sami let out a huge laugh before kissing Lucas on the top of the head.

Belle had the sappiest look on her face as she sighed at the sight. "Aren't those two just so cute? I can't wait until they get married." Philip just chuckled and turned his attention back to the lovely creature by his side. "Don't you think they're cute."

Philip wasn't as excited as Belle but he hated to admit that he too thought they were cute. "If you say so, beautiful, but they're certainly not as cute as you." He lightly tapped her nose with his finger and watched a brilliant smile spread across her face. "Let's go home so we can find out what those two maniacs gave us." He opened the front door for her, guiding her inside before getting in himself and driving towards the loft.

Belle could hardly contain herself, she was so excited. She loved getting presents and figured that whatever Sami and Lucas had given them would be good since it came in such a big box. Philip made fun of her the whole way telling her that he was glad the windows were up or else she would have bounced right out of the car. She looked back at the box and reached out for something. "Belle, they said not to open it until we got home. You wouldn't want to ruin the surprise would you?"

"Exactly, Philip. They said not to 'open' it until we got home. This card was attached to the top on the OUTSIDE so I don't see why we can't read it. We're not technically opening it." She grabbed the envelope and ripped it open.

"I think you got a little too comfortable in Sami's body. Now you're sounding just like her." He glanced at her quickly trying to hide his curiosity and failing miserably. "So what does it say—I mean, you might as well tell me since you've already opened it up."

"See! You're just as anxious as I am." She cleared her throat and began reading the note out loud for some clue as to what lay inside.

_Dear Loving Siblings (and future siblings-in-law),_

_We thought we'd give you a little something to remember the experience by. We know we've been giving you a hard time, but we really are happy that you two have FINALLY found each other. We hope that you will be as happy as we are. Of course, this doesn't mean that we'll stop teasing you guys for getting caught engaging in unauthorized activities in our bodies. We'll pretty much keep doing it until it stops being funny or we find something else to make fun of. In other words, be prepared to keep hearing about it for a long, long time. But anyway, thanks for sticking by us and reminding us of our love for each other even when we were too stubborn to do it for ourselves. And don't worry about Mom/Kate, we've got your back_.

_Love your wise, caring, amazingly attractive brother and sister,_

_Lucas and Sami_

_P.S. Don't "spend" it all at once. Save some for later. As for the other stuff, we just couldn't resist. Think of it this way, we just saved you a lot of time and trouble._

While they appreciated the sentiments in the note, they were now more curious than ever. Finally, they reached their apartment and Philip carried the box over to the couch so they could open it. Belle was hopping up and down on the couch, hardly able to contain herself.

"Well, whatever it is, it's not all that heavy. He leaned over to smell what was inside and then awkwardly tried to shake the big box.

Belle was having none of it. She pushed Philip out of the way and ripped open the box to see what treasures lay inside. The first thing that caught her attention was the thick layer of tissue paper and a small bag laying on top of it. "What's up with this? Look at this," she said motioning for Philip to re-join her. She opened the back and spilled the contents on her lap. What came out was a value pack of condoms conveniently ribbed for her pleasure. Philip picked up the box, tossed it in the air and caught it again in his open hand. "What a couple of sweethearts," he said sarcastically.

Belle thought it was kind of funny even though it was a little embarrassing to be given prophylactics by your sister and her future brother-in-law, the latter having seen her naked numerous times in the past 24 hours. "It's a nice gesture, I guess."

"Three guesses why they wanted us to wait until we got home to open the box." He gave her a lascivious grin and kissed her soundly.

Belle pushed him away a bit reluctantly, promising with her expression, more of the same later on. "Philip, that can't be the only thing in this huge box. Let's see what else they gave us." She clawed at the tissue paper and quickly pulled out the soft objects that lay underneath it. When they realized what it was they looked at each other and burst out laughing. "I guess we're back in Sami's good graces. They were right, this does save us a lot of time and energy."

Folded neatly inside the box were the sheets from Sami's bed including the comforter—the very same sheets that she had made such a fuss of them "soiling" earlier.

"It's true that I am feeling a little sentimental about them. Why don't we go try them out?" Belle didn't look like she favored that idea so he decided to backtrack. "What I meant was we could try out part of it. This part here," he said pointing to the comforter.

Belle seemed more pleased about that. Even considering the circumstances, she had to agree with Sami that it wasn't pleasant to think of rolling around on dirty sheets. At least now they wouldn't have to wash and return them. "That's sounds okay. We'll have to be sure to thank them for such a lovely gift—later." She gave him a smoldering look. "Right now, we've got some important business to attend to." She leaned over to kiss him and at that moment, their present was completely forgotten.

* * *

"So, it's been enough time for them to get home. Do you think they liked their present?" Lucas asked his beautiful companion. He was still a little winded from the piggyback ride—Philip hadn't been kidding about all that food weighing her down. But hearing her laugh like that was worth the backache. 

Sami chuckled thinking about Belle and Philip's reaction to the sheets. "I'm sure they got a kick out of it. Besides, them liking it was not my concern. I wanted to distance myself from the trauma of what they did on those sheets. I don't think I could stand even looking at those things without thinking about what they did on them, much less sleeping on them."

"Well, I'm sure they found a good home over there. That means we can go out and buy new stuff for your bed. It gives you another reason to shop." She seemed especially excited about that part. "I'll even foot the bill, what do you say?"

"What I say," Sami said grabbing his arm, "is that we better hurry or we'll never got down to Will's camp. We've got some big news to tell him, remember?"

"How could I forget something like that? I'm still getting rave reviews for my solo. The calls from record companies have been pouring in and I've got an album in the works." Sami giggled at his silliness. First the piggyback ride and now this. He was such a character. They were actually crossing the shopping center on their way back to their car. They had stopped by a few places in order to put together a care package for Will. They were sure that the news of their engagement was the biggest present he could hope for but a little something extra wouldn't hurt.

"Oh Lucas, the last 24 hours seem so surreal to me. It's like it's all an amazing, wonderful yet insanely bizarre dream." She stared at the engagement ring that Lucas had given her and sighed in contentment.

Lucas noticed her staring at her engagement ring. "Sami, that part isn't a dream. All the other stuff, well, I just don't know. But this ring," he said grasping her hand and running his fingers across the ring, "this is the real deal. My love for you is the real thing."

"I know it is. I won't ever doubt that again. I've waited too long to experience this and to see what love really feels like to take it for granted." They walked a few paces in silence and Sami said at last, "you know what else?"

"What's that?"

"I'm pretty crazy about you." She uttered the words softly and with meaning. It nearly melted his heart to hear such affection directed at him. It still amazed him everyday that he had her in his life again.

Lucas grinned down at her, his eyes matching the affection in hers. "You bet you're crazy about me—and it's a good thing that you are."

Sami gave him a disbelieving look. "And why is that? You're a driving snob, you are in serious need of a pedicure and you are way too cute for your own good."

"There's no arguing with that last part but that's not the reason."

"Okay, I'll bite. So why is it a good thing that I'm crazy about you," Sami asked impatiently.

He put his arm around her causing her to do the same and leaned into her. "The reason is simple. It's a good thing you're crazy about me because I'm completely and utterly crazy about you too." He knew he had said the right thing because he was rewarded with her lovely smile and a sweet kiss. He could see his car from where they were walking but made no move to hurry. He liked strolling down the street with her in his arms. "Why so serious all of a sudden?" he asked noticing her fading smile. "Is it my breath?" He blew a gust of air her way to test out his theory.

Sami playfully moved away and laughed. "Ewww, gross! Next time, skip the onions! You definitely need a Tic Tac, General." She could hear him grabbing for his keys in his pocket even though his car was across the parking lot. They put their arems back around each other and continued walking. "I was just thinking that it's going to be a long road for us. So much has happened to us in the past that I'd be a fool not to be skeptical of us living happily ever after."

"Hey, let's not think about the past. We've got great things happening for us. We're finally going to be a family with Will." He rubbed her back soothingly and pulled her closer.

"I know, I know. I also know that you can't promise me that everything will be perfect for the rest of our lives." She reached around and placed her hand in his. "I just always want to be as happy as I am right now." She gazed up at him with love. "Let's see where life takes us."

Lucas gave her a squeeze. "That sounds like a great idea. But first, let's go see our son."

"You bet," she replied with conviction. "I love you."

"I love you too. Forever." They continued to leisurely stroll down the tree-lined walkway comfortable in their silence and headed towards their future together.


End file.
